Thank you so much for the response! :D I honestly didn't expect so many of you to be interested. Well, I hope I don't disappoint. :)
This follows the original plot, but the details are slightly different. What I mean is that Harry is still the savior of the wizarding world, and Tom is still the 'villain'. But this story isn't black and white.
Warnings: Dark! Hermione | Manipulative! Riddle | Slight Ron and Dumbledore bashing.
This is the more comedic version of the story told in Nagini's point of view. If enough people request, I can make a more dramatic version in Riddle's point of view (3rd person).
The poster is made by Asphyxy from Beauty Lies Within
You can find the link at my profile.
...
The first time we saw her was when we - or they - were fighting with the Order of chickens in the Forest of Dean. I was small then, hardly noticed as I hid beneath my master's cloak, and so I was able to watch everything without being worried for my life. The fact that I was possibly one of the most precious things my lord possessed assured me that he wouldn't just stand by to watch me die.
The bloodbath excited me, and I had no problem informing my master so. He chuckled darkly and talked to me in the language that only he - not counting the Potter brat - could use. A scream interrupted our rather cynical conversation. My master raised a brow in interest and amusement at the sight of Wormtail clutching his bleeding stomach on the ground. Honestly, I never liked that rat. But I don't like the cause of his pain even more.
The mudblood gazed at him in horror, her breaths coming out in little puffs while her hand was still frozen in mid-air. She was frozen, and she would have died if the werewolf hadn't pushed her out of the way. The bushy-haired female opened her mouth in a silent scream when her friend fell, eyes still wide open. Then the grief was replaced with rage, and she began to fire curses that weren't even in the Hogwarts curriculum. I knew because all the spells were borderline dark.
I didn't understand why she was fighting so much... or what she hoped to gain. Half of the light had already fallen, and while one could admire her perseverance, it caused nothing more than inconvenience for us. A death eater hit her leg with a sectumsepra and caused a wound so deep that her dirty blood flowed out. If she would just give up now, master may be merciful and allow her a second chance. We heard rumors about her. Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age. I'm sure she would prove to be useful... but, no. A lion cannot live with the snakes.
I turned to my master thoughtfully and found him scrutinizing her... her worth. But there was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite place. It was something like a grudging respect for someone beneath him. I almost hissed in anger. But then I reassured myself that there was no way my lord - the strongest wizard alive - would not think of, much less fancy, someone like her.
The boy-who-wouldn't-die and the weasel hurried to the girl's side. The death eaters approached, their stances similar to those of predators cornering their prey. Both of Potter's arms were broken, rendering him useless. Pity. The... girl could no longer run even if they could miraculously escape while the weasel had been hit by so many curses that he was unrecognizable.
The Death eaters rejoiced and even master wore a proud grin on his face. We were going to win because Potter and his sidekicks will die. Our Victory was assured.
But then a traitor decided to make himself known. Stupid greasy git.
Severus Snape disarmed the death eater closest to him which caused quite a commotion He fully took advantage of it and threw a portkey in the middle of the trio before he disapparated. No one moved for quite some time as they were literally frozen with fear.
My master smiled, then he chuckled, and it didn't take him long to laugh. The other death eaters joined in, nervously at first before they were caught up in my lord's unreasonable joy. Soon enough almost everyone was laughing heartily. My lord wiped tears of mirth away from his eyes. "That fool!" he gasped out in between laughter.
"Yeah," a masked death eater agreed, "he even managed to fool you."
The death eaters froze, but my master only smiled gently.
"Crucio."
The screams echoed around the clearing for merlin knew how long. No one smiled and all traces of joy were gone from each face. Just when it seemed like my lord had finally calmed down, a very stupid man that went by the name of Lucius bloody Malfoy stepped forward and asked my master why he just stood there and did nothing.
The silence was deafening.
"Do you think me, Lord Voldemort, will waste his time fighting a useless, know-it-all mudblood, a blood-traitor, and a boy who managed to survive by sheer luck, Lucius?" asked my master, livid that someone dare question him. "What pathetic followers you all are! You can't even take care of children!" he spat the word like venom. With his whole form shaking, my master said, "Lord Voldemort does not waste time over trash Lucius, it would do you well to remember that." Then he left.
That was his reason, and I was glad that no one pointed out the fact that he went after said boy while he was still a baby.
One by one the death eaters left, while Wormtail laid there, whimpering and bleeding severely all but remembered.
...
The second time they bumped into each other was by sheer luck. Talk about cliche. Master and I were walking down diagon alley. Don't look at me like that! Even dark lords had the privilege to take a walk, you know. So, back to the matter at hand, master wanted to see how the wizarding world was faring after his return. My master would have sent his followers, but those dunderheads couldn't do anything right.
Of course, he wore a glamour charm that changed his appearance. People wouldn't take kindly to a dark lord walking down the street as if on a killing - ahem - shopping spree. My master's hair changed from dark brown to pale blond and his dark eyes to icy blue. He was still so beautiful... like a fallen angel.
After a while my master longed to rest. He was unused to doing simple tasks like this because seriously, what were house elves for?
Just as we were about to head in The Hogs Head, the door suddenly flew open and a certain bushy-haired bookworm came running out only to barge into my master. Like I said, cliche. I almost went out of my hiding place to hiss at her, but then I realized - more like tasted - that something was wrong. The air was saltier than normal.
The girl looked up, her eyes filled with unshed tears. It was fleeting, gone as soon as it had come, and I almost thought that I had imagined it, but it had happened; even though just a short moment my master actually looked concerned for this... this lesser being.
"Are you... okay?" he asked, rather awkwardly, while his hands hovered over her form unsurely. The dark lord was a master of advanced spells and bloody torture, but he was as smooth as a drunken bear when it came to emotion-related and romantic situations.
Witches and wizards glanced curiously at them, but neither paid any attention. They probably wondered if my lord was the mudblood's missing husband by the way she was straddling him. I resisted the urge to hiss impatiently. Honestly, were this two planning on standing up at all?
Granger sniffed and nodded then stuttered out, "Y-yes, I am... well, thank you." I stared at her in disbelief. Bloody Gryffindors and their self-sacrificing natures. It was obvious that she wasn't! What did she gain by lying, anyway? In fact, what did my master hope to achieve by asking in the first place? Bloody Slytherins and their hidden agendas. My master clearly didn't believe her as well for he raised his right brow. "Are you sure?" he asked with an imploring look.
Then she did something that would scar me for as long as I lived. The mudblood lost all sense of self-control and hugged the dark lord. It wasn't even a normal, friendly hug! She had het arms wound tight around his neck while she sobbed on his chest. The nerve!
My master's eyes widened in surprise, and it was easy to understand why. (Hell, I thought mine would fall out of their sockets.) My master was used to people kneeling before him, and he was used to being looked at reverently, but no one had hugged him before. Not even Bellatrix - and we all know how far gone that woman was - was insane enough to try.
The dark lord looked like he was about to throw up or run screaming away and put the whole thing behind him. But of course, he did neither. My master rubbed her back in a circular motion - lucky bint - and whispered soothing words in her ear. I knew that the only reason why he did so was to avoid further attention, and calming down the hysterical girl was the first step to do that. She calmed down after a moment and, as if just realizing their position, stood up in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry... I normally don't break down like that," she told him meekly. My master made this funny sound at the back of his throat. "But please," she pleaded, "let me make it up to you. I'm not rich but I can afford two glasses of butterbeer."
My master laughed shyly, but it was almost obvious that he was weighting out the pros and cons of agreeing. I didn't particularly want the company, but we were planning to rest anyway, and the girl could be a possible source of information regarding the order. My master's eyes glittered shrewdly as he agreed.
We entered the Three Broomsticks, and my master immediately headed to the corner of the room. He sat with his back to the wall while he positioned himself so that he could see everyone. The girl sat opposite him, totally vulnerable. Amateur. Whatever happed to constant vigilance?
"What's your name?"
If snakes could snort, I would have. My master kept track of all of Potter's friends. He knew their past, secrets, likes and dislikes and even their previous grades. He kept them in his drawer, organized in an alphabetical manner. He could be such a stalker sometimes.
"Hermione Jean Granger," she answered then paused and stared at my master in a calculating manner. If she had been facing a lesser wizard, he would have had fidgeted. Instead, my master casually stared right back.
"What?"
Granger shook her head, clearly baffled. "It's just... odd that you're still sitting there calmly," she voiced out. The dark lord's lips quirked up in amusement.
"Would you rather I panic?" he inquired curiously and watched as the girl stumbled over herself.
"No! No… not at all. I just meant that everyone I had the… pleasure to meet was excited about the fact that I was their savior's best friend," she explained, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "It's never Hermione Granger the brightest witch of her age or Hermione Granger the brains behind the Golden Trio. No; never that. Apparently, I'm just the side-kick. Hell, I'm not even the best mate!"
My master listened carefully and blinked in shock when tears, once again, spilled from her eyes. Merlin, this girl was a crying mess.
"I'm sorry!" she wailed out and quickly wiped her tears away. "It's just… he was…"
"You don't have to tell me," my master told her, fidgeting uncomfortably on his seat. I knew that he was dying to know, though. The dark lord was inquisitive, and he wanted to know everything because even the smallest of details could be used as dangerous information.
"But… you deserve to know. After all, I used you as a personal handkerchief…"
"That you did."
She chuckled ruefully and bowed her head gravely. "I'm telling you all these things, and I don't even know your name."
"It's quite alright," he assured her with a gentle smile. "My friends tell me that I'm a great secret keeper." I hissed in laughter. Sure, he was, and by friends he meant prisoners. But seriously, this girl was so stupid… revealing all her emotion to a mere stranger. Ugh. Gryffindors disgust me to my very core.
She didn't even notice that he didn't introduce himself.
"I just… my boyfriend, his 'friend' and I was supposed to meet at the Hog's Head." My master's brows lifted up, and she explained hastily, "It's just that we wanted to avoid detection… and we were supposed to talk about… things." Granger trailed off and I couldn't help but notice how she seemed to avoid looking at his eyes.
"What sort of things?"
"Just… work," Granger excused, and my master nodded absently in reply. It was probably order business… and the reason that they were to meet in the Hog's Head was to hold a meeting. That just proved how truly stupid the Golden Trio was. If they were to hold a top secret meeting, public places were hardly the best choice of location. "Anyway… we were supposed to meet at 3:30, but I finished working on… something a little earlier than expected so I headed there. But he was… he was…" She raised her hand to her throat and held it as if she was choking herself. "He was snogging his secretary! His hand was even under her shirt and her leg was wound around his bloody waist! It's so unfair! We never even kissed like that before, and she just… she just!"
Granger's head met the table with a loud thump. My master glared at the people around them for either staring too long or staring at all. He cleared his throat awkwardly and clumsily stroked me inside his cloak. His hand was wet with sweat causing me to hiss in displeasure.
"I'm sorry," Granger choked out, hands furiously rubbing away tears. "But what should I d-do?!"
"What do you want to do?" my master asked back. Granger breathed heavily and stared holes at the table. She shrugged helplessly. "I'm just going to wait for him to admit it… I guess."
Stupid girl; and she was supposed to be the brightest witch of her age. I mean who in their right mind would admit that they cheated? My Lord was on the same wave length as me and spoke incredulously, "That's it?"
"Well, what would you have me do?" she snapped at him. The dark lord looked pleased, as if he wanted her to snap at him. But I dismissed that thought away. There was absolutely no reason as to why he would want something like that, after all.
"Make him pay, of course," my master answered surely as he leaned back into the chair. Granger sucked in a sharp breath and looked at him crossly.
"I can't do that!" she vehemently protested. "Just because someone hurt you don't mean it's right to hurt them back!"
My master snorted in response. "It's not revenge," he retaliated, "Treat it like some sort of reward for putting up with his bullshit." My master had this glint in his eye, and I just knew that he was enjoying the banter more than he ever should.
"I can't do that!"
"A round of cruciatus isn't going to hurt anyone. As Gryffindor's Golden girl, I doubt the old- Dumbledore would put you in Azkaban even if you murder the Weasley brat in front of him. You're too... valuable to this war." Too skilled for a pawn.
"But it's still wrong." She rolled her eyes at him and groaned. "Merlin, you sound just like Voldemort!"
We both froze, and Granger must have noticed how pale my master had become because she placed a hand on his arm. "Hey… are you okay?" she worriedly asked. "I'm sorry if he brought on bad-" Not a second too soon, my master was on his feet, and he gripped Granger's elbow and pulled her out of the store. The moment we left it, the sound of apparition echoed and the screams of several people followed.
Granger tried to pull away from my master, but his grip was too tight. He led her away from the scene and pushed her into the direction of Hogwarts. "Go!" he ordered as he roughly shoved her on her way. Granger stared at him with worried eyes and moved towards the direction of the store, but my master blocked her path. "Go," he repeated forcefully, but Granger ignored it and still tried to push past him.
Before long, she realized that it was futile so she settled on glaring at him instead. "Get out of my way!" she snarled. "People need my help there!"
"They don't need your help!" my master growled out. "Just go!" Her brows furrowed and she stared at him for a moment.
"Go!"
With a last conflicted look, Granger turned around to run for Hogwarts. She would probably go to Dumbles for help, if he wasn't already aware of the situation. My master stared at her retreating back for a second before he apparated to the Three Broomsticks.
I couldn't help but wonder why we let a perfectly good hostage go.
…
That night, my master held a meeting, and he took great pleasuring in cursing the death eaters to his heart's content. I had never seen him so furious before, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was because of the Granger girl. I discarded the thought as soon as it had come. There was simply no way for my master to care for her. Although he did set her free…
I shook my head to clear it of any other thought. My master was absolute. If he chose to mate with the mudblood then I am in no position to stop him. But that didn't mean that I would like it.
"How much of a fool could you be?" the dark lord hissed out furiously as his magic angrily swirled around him. I tasted the air and shivered in delight, but it was apparent that I was the only one who enjoyed it. The death eaters that weren't being tortured crowded as close as their pride would allow. The ones that were being tortured kept whimpering and moaning in pain as they kissed the hem of my master's cloak.
My lord kicked Crabbe away. "Do you even understand the severity of the situation?" he asked flatly. "You could have gotten caught. And I wouldn't put it past you cowards to betray every single wizard or witch here if it meant saving your own skin!" Everyone in the room swallowed hard, and their fear was so pronounced that I could taste it in the air. "Why would you apparate in the middle of Hogsmeade where the order could apprehend you any minute, you fools!"
Ah… so that was what he was angry about? But there was something off. My master was lying… I felt it, and what more, he was also lying to himself.
…
My master was troubled, and I instinctively knew that it was all Granger's fault. I knew that she didn't have him under the imperius. The very notion was laughable because she was ages away from even being able to lay a scratch on the dark lord.
After another night of continued pacing, I finally snapped.
'Master, what is bothering you?'
The dark lord stopped trying to create a hole in the floor and approached me. 'Nothing is wrong, my pet,' he assured and stroked my length. 'I am just thinking.'
I knew that asking would most likely get me killed, but it was just one of those things that you had to do. Perhaps I hoped that the knowledge that part of his soul lived inside me would get me through the night.
'Because of Granger?'
My master stiffened, he stopped petting me and he crossed his arms over his chest defensively while his face was set into an indifferent mask. 'What about her?' he asked rather petulantly. I knew that my life was on the line, but I couldn't help but find him adorable at that very moment.
I rose up and met his stare head on. 'Is she the one on your mind, my lord?'
'No,' the dark lord denied. 'Why would she be?'
'I do not know, master. Why don't you tell me?'
We stared each other down for a moment, but we both knew who the winner would be. As amazing as my lord was, he was still human, and humans needed to blink. He sighed in defeat and resumed stroking me.
'I was,' he admitted after a minute of silence, 'I want to break her, Nagini, and then fix her and break her again.'
I stared at him in surprise.
'I am not a kind man nor a caring lover, and I want to extinguish her flame and then light it again until only I matter... until she depends only to me.'
He stopped stroking me, and settled on to sit beside me. It took a few seconds for me to gather my thoughts.
'What is stopping you?' At his startled look, I hastened to explain myself. 'It would gain us a valuable ally... no matter how dirty her blood is, and it may break Harry Potter's heart.'
To this very day, I can still remember the grin my master gave me that day.
...
My master had taken into hanging out around the Three Broomsticks whenever he can – which is not really much. Days passed and no sign of Granger was seen, but one Hogsmeade weekend, my master caught sight of her walking down hand in hand with the Weasley boy. I swear that the very air around us turned cold.
He froze and stealthily followed them around. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry Potter entering Honeydukes with a ginger on his arm. The youngest Weasley.
Weasley stopped by a quidditch shop and Granger waited for him like how a good girlfriend would. Then she got bored and excused herself to go to the bookstore. My master tilted his head slightly to the right before a cunning smirk crossed his features, and he entered the same shop Weasley was in.
My master made a show of ogling at a broom – Nimbus 1000 or something – and purposely bumped into Ronald Weasley. The Red-headed boy's eyes narrowed in suspicion when he caught sight of my master and his lips turned into a scowl. He was probably jealous of my master's dashing good looks.
"I'm so sorry, mate" said my master, "I didn't see you there."
Weasley didn't respond straight away, and he glanced in disgust at the hand that my master offered. My master's eye subtly twitched in irritation.
"I'm William Smith."
The suspicion left Weasley's eyes, and he shook my master's hand apologetically. "Sorry, mate, thought you were a Malfoy," he reasoned. My master's brow rose in surprise.
"What's wrong with the Malfoys?"
"What do you mean 'what's wrong'?!" exclaimed Weasley in surprise. "They're bloody death eaters; the whole lot of them. I even heard that they were housing you-know-who!"
"What… Voldemort?"
Weasley looked horrified.
"Don't say his name!" he hissed furiously. "The last time someone did, death eaters appeared."
My master almost rolled his eyes. They won't make that mistake again, he made sure of it. An hour of the cruciatus curse was enough for them to understand that my master was not to be trifled with.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, then turned to the broom on display. "Fantastic broom isn't it?"
I was surprised that Weasley didn't explode or wet himself from excitement. "Yeah! Wish I had one, but the price is too much."
No surprise there. The Weasleys were famous for their red hair and the children that was more than they could handle. It was so obvious that the boy wore hand-me-down robes that barely covered his feet and had patches of cloth. That wouldn't matter, however, if he was a great wizard like my master. Unfortunately, he was not.
"The store's playing it down. The thing is faster than they say it is," said my master, eyes darting around. Weasley's eyes widened.
"How do you know?"
"I have one," my master answered, shrugging. "I hid it at the back."
Weasley bit his lip hesitantly, and my master pretended to think hard about it, though I knew he was just planning on how to torture the stupid sidekick.
"Want to come see?"
With a hesitant nod, Weasley followed my master to the back. When they arrived, Weasley looked around in confusion and asked stupidly, "Where is it?"
In a blink of an eye, my master had stunned him and had transported the both of them to Malfoy manor. The boy was not wrong about the Malfoys. But that didn't make my master any less happy that someone was destroying their reputation. It was not a matter of friendship, for my master did not have friends, but it would terribly inconvenience him if the Malfoys lost their rank in society.
My master chained Ronald in one of the cells in the dungeon and forcefully broke down the walls that Dumbledore placed in his mind.
That afternoon, my master entered the Hogwarts castle in the form of Ronald Weasley.
…
My master found Granger crying her heart out at the girl's bathroom after Potter gave him the Maraper's or something similar to that map. The dark lord had marveled about the genius behind the map for a moment before he realized that he was supposed to be already used to it, and he cleared his throat awkwardly before shuffling out of the room under Potter's suspicious gaze.
I knew that the only reason why he didn't kill the boy was because Dumbledore was still in the building. If my master had arrived at a more fortunate time, Harry Potter would be dead at his feet. Lucky brat.
"Go away," Granger croaked out miserably when she caught sight of him. My master's hand twitched in anticipation. I won't go over the details, because to be honest, it still gives me nightmares to this very day. Let me just say that whatever he did was bad enough that Granger had to use the cruciatus on him.
My master kept the grin plastered on his face even as he screamed his heart out. Granger dropped her wand in horror when she realized what she had done. Then she turned her wide eyes to him and dropped to her knees, spouting out apologies incoherently and kneeling in forgiveness.
I couldn't help but find the whole thing funny.
...
They ran away.
Dumbledore was beyond furious, while Potter practically lost his mind. I didn't know how Granger could stand to be in the presence of the my master, who was still disguised as Weasley, but I thought it had something to do with my master's usefulness.
I caught her studying him in thought after he had used various advance spells that weren't even in any book, but were my master's own inventions. The mudblood should consider herself lucky that she even witnessed him performing his art.
Granger could have been in Slytherin, what with her way of thinking, and her tendency to save her own hide. She apparently didn't believe my master when he told her that Dumbledore would do anything to set her free... not when the other party was also Potter's sidekick. The foolish girl wholeheartedly believed that she was the least important pawn between them. Naive.
My master didn't drop his act though. He made sure to look at the girl hungrily every bloody time he was in her line of sight. I enjoyed watching her flinch in pain, guilt and shame; enjoyed hearing her agonized and terrified screams in the middle of the night when she was unlucky enough to fall asleep due to fatigue, and couldn't help but think that my master had already achieve the first step of his plan.
The Granger girl was already broken.
...
Granger met my master again a week after 'Weasley' disappeared on Granger. Though this one was completely coincidental.
My master had taken to using the Riddle Manor as his peaceful haven. No one knew the location except him, and not even I had that honor. There were no wards there, for my master thought that it would only attract more attention. Outside, the riddle manor was rundown and shabby looking, as if it would fall apart if the ground so much as shook. On the inside though was a place of absolute beauty. The style was elegant, but not flashy. There were no chandeliers or grand pictures of Voldemort displayed over the fireplace. In fact, the house seemed sort of homey, if there was such a word.
Granger happened to find it by chance.
My master had almost cast the killing curse at her when she barged into his bedroom, soaking wet and dirty. I couldn't really blame him. I had almost tried to bite her too, after all.
Granger's eyes widened in surprise, before suspicion settled in.
"What are you doing here?" she snidely asked causing my master to huff in irritation. Honestly! Wasn't she being a bit rude?
The dark lord eyed her form in distaste and remarked, "Don't take that tone with me, Granger. I'm not the one barging into someone's house looking like he had rolled through a pig's pen."
Granger eyed him in confusion, her brows furrowed then without further ado, she had pointed her wand at him threateningly. My master raised a brow and smirked, and I knew that he only did so to infuriate her.
"Who are you?" Granger slowly asked as she advanced like a predator. My master eyed the wand for a moment before he thoughtfully gazed at the rain pelting outside. I hissed in anger at the mudblood's audacity to challenge the dark lord. He could floor her with his eyes closed and his hands tied behind his back!
"I'm Tom Riddle."
Granger froze and stepped back in fear, her face pale. Good, I thought, at least she knew of some self-preservation. "What are you doing here?" she whispered in fear. My master turned to her blankly.
"Sleeping, if it wasn't obvious already." Granger growled low in her throat and I resisted the urge to bite her.
'Master, can I at least poison the girl?'
My master laughed quietly while the Granger girl turned towards me fearfully - that's right! Fear me silly human. 'Then all my effort would have gone to waste, my pet.'
"What are you talking about?!" Granger asked wildly, eyes flaring with panic. "What's she saying!"
"She's just hungry is all."
It was almost comical to watch as Granger stumbled over herself to leave the room. But my master wasn't about to let her go that easily. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked silkily, relishing in the sadistic enjoyment of watching Granger almost wet her self in fear.
"I... I..."
"Come now, don't be such a party pooper," my master intoned and waved his hand. "Take a seat." Granger gasped in surprise when the spell took over her. It was an improved version of the imperius curse. This one allowed the victim to remember everything that had happened. It was perfect for those insolent brats who loved their freedom so much.
Master released his hold on the girl the moment she sat down, but she was smart enough not to flee. "What do you want from me?" Her voice wasn't even fearful anymore; just resigned.
"Join me."
There was a pause, and I thought that the girl finally realized how honorable it was to be offered by the dark lord himself. I thought that she was overwhelmed by emotions.
I thought wrong.
"No."
My master frowned and regarded her rigid form smugly. "Well, I can just drop you off at Azkaban... you know, to save everyone the trouble."
"No! You can't!" Granger protested at once, her face desperate. "No," she repeated, more calmly, "but what do I get from this agreement?"
"To start with: a life free of Azkaban... and another... I will train you myself."
"I refuse to study Dark Arts."
'You have no choice in the matter." The dark lord's eyes narrowed. "There is no evil, Granger, only power and those too afraid to seek it."
When Granger remained silent, my master took it as a sign to continue.
"I take it we have a deal?"
Granger remained motionless as stone, and even I held my breath that day. Then she nodded hesitantly and watched in surprise as a wide grin took over my master's features. He smiled so much those days that I couldn't help but get jealous.
...
"Your first task," my master announced one day while Hermione was busy reading in the library, "is to prove your loyalty to me." Hermione stayed silent for a few moments and shifted slightly in chair so I could slither out of her waist and go to my master. Then she raised one eyebrow elegantly and tilted her head to the right in thought.
"Haven't I done that already?"
Despite himself, my master smirked. It had been a pleasure to teach Hermione the Dark Arts, and my master had taken great enjoyment in submitting the witch under the cruciatus curse so she could cast it herself. Not exactly the best method, but no one said that the dark lord was completely sane either.
"This is the final test." My master grinned and Hermione, after spending so much time with my master, knew that that did not bode well for her. I for one did not wish her to get hurt. Sure the first few months with the witch was horrifying, and I would rather be skinned alive than go through them again, but she was enjoyable to be around once you really got to know her.
At least Hermione had enough decency to turn away when I was shedding!
With a resigned sigh, Hermione stood up and placed the book back before she followed my master without a word. I slithered in between them to keep them apart. I wasn't jealous! I just wanted my lord to focus on what was really important. Like killing that Potter brat and that old coot.
My master entered the dungeons and headed to one of the cells, and I immediately knew where it was going. I couldn't help but be excited over what was to happen because I too was curious about Hermione's loyalty.
The cell door opened to reveal one battered, bruised and bloody Ronald Weasley.
I watched in amusement as rage completely took over Hermione's features before she hid it in a blank mask. The air was vibrating with power, and I watched with sadistic glee as the weasel stared at Hermione with hope shining in his blue eyes.
She sneered at him before turning to my master.
"Time to create your horcrux," he answered her silent question. Understanding dawned in her eyes.
"Hermione?" croaked out Weasley when his eyes finally adjusted to the light. "Her-mione... help... me."
Fury flared in her eyes. "Help you?" she echoed incredulously before a mocking laugh escaped her. "Why should I?" At her words, Weasley's eyes widened, as if he only realized that the only reason she would be so healthy was because she had changed sides.
"Why?" he asked, betrayal shining in his eyes.
"Because of you, Ronald Weasley and what you did to me," she hissed and before Weasley could voice the confusion he felt. Hermione drew out her want and pointed it, almost lazily, at him. "Avada Kedavra."
Hermione screamed in agony as her soul was transferred to a beautiful silver necklace with a black gem in the middle. My... Our master placed it around her neck as he whispered the name to her ear, "It's called Μαύρη τρύπα... or in English: Black Hole."