Severus was now lying in his bed, alone once more. His little one had left to go to her room not to long ago, and now he was staring at his ceiling, thinking back one year ago when everything had begun.

………….

After feeling the burn of the Dark Mark, Severus grabbed his things and donned his robes and snuck out of the castle. He immediately apparated away to where the Dark Lord was calling him. Once there, he quickly bent down and kissed the Dark Lord's robes and walked to his place in the circle next to Lucius and Goyle.

The Dark Lord looked around the circle until his eyes landed on Severus, and his blood went cold. It was never a good thing for the Dark Lord to look you in the eye; he felt another presence in his mind and knew He was checking to make sure that Severus was still loyal, which was to be expected. Severus didn't try to hide anything or use occulmency, after all, He would have been able to tell, besides, he had nothing to hide.

Soon, he felt the Dark Lord leave his mind and nod his head. Severus let out a breath of relief, he would be alright tonight, but the Dark Lord still kept his gaze on him. He wondered for a moment if perhaps he had done something that displeased Him, but he was quickly reassured that all was well when the Dark Lord's gaze moved on and He began to speak.

"My Loyal Death Eaters, I have figured out the way to destroy that idiot Potter once and for all. Every attempt I have made to destroy him has failed. Part of the reason is due to the failures of some of my Death Eaters, while the other part is due to Potter's friends. They are his lifeline, his reason for living, they are his strength. Without them, he is nothing. It would not do to simply kill the two; that would be too easy and would strengthen his resolve and determination. No, they will not die. Instead, we will sway one to our cause, yes, just one, for that is all we will need. The boy, Weasley I think is his name, will not be our target. He is much to hard headed and would not benefit our cause in the least if he were to join, despite his pureblood, he has neither power nor intelligence. That leaves the girl, the mudblood. Yes, we will sway her to our cause. While her blood is regrettable, it will be looked over for she possesses what we need. She has intelligence far surpassing some in this circle, she has cunning, she has immense power, she is the essential brains behind everything that Potter does, and she is his voice of reason. She is the only one they would never expect, she would be able to find out things that even our dear Severus can not."

"She will now be entering her 7th year at Hogwarts and will soon be looking for a place of work. As you have mentioned, Severus, she seems to be leaning towards potions. Soon she will need to find a Potions Master for her to learn under. When the time comes, you will take her as an Apprentice. It will be your job to bring her here, use any means you deem necessary, except for the Imperius Charm; that will do no good. Now, I believe that is all, you are free to go."

Severus bowed once more and apparated away with the rest of the Death Eaters. Once back on Hogwarts grounds, he pulled out his invisibility cloak and wrapped it around himself. It was not quite curfew yet, so there were students milling about. He quickly swept down to the dungeons and to the portrait of Salazar Slytherin. He quickly took down the words and muttered the password, slipping in before being seen. As soon as he was safely in his rooms, he let out a long sigh and slipped off the cloak. He quickly took off his mask and robes and put them into the cabinet in his bedroom, where they always were.

He stripped down to his undergarments and slipped into his bed, under the black satin sheets. He had essays to grade, but they would wait, for now his mind was buzzing with his new assignment. He knew that the Dark Lord would go after one of Potter's friends one day, but Severus had always thought that he would try to kill one of them, not convince them to join the Death Eaters, especially Granger of all people.

Contrary to popular belief, Severus did not hate the girl, he just hated the fact that she felt it necessary to show off her vast knowledge every chance she had, though it seems that six years of potions had quelled that desire in her slightly. He now was beginning to respect her intelligence, she always had the best essays out of anyone in her class, and she had managed to tutor that dunderhead Longbottom into getting into the 6th year potions class. The boy hadn't lasted too long though, after about three more months of class, he dropped out, opting to take another Herbology class.

It wasn't as if Severus had a choice in the matter, he would have to complete his task, or he would be punished, and he did not want to be punished. He wouldn't mind as much as his fellow Death Eaters would have, for he did not share all of the Pure Blooded idea's as they did. While he did believe that most purebloods were better than most muggleborns, there were always exceptions to that rule. After all, Crabbe and Goyle were purebloods but most of the time it seemed as though rocks were more intelligent, while Granger was a muggleborn and yet she was more powerful and more intelligent than half of the current Death Eaters.

But how would he go about getting her to join them? Ever since her induction into the wizarding world, she has been on the side of the light. She has never questioned where she stood, and she has faced Death Eaters countless times. She knows of the things that the Death Eaters do, she knows how they believe that muggleborns are scum between their toes and how purebloods should be bowed to like royalty. She has never known the power of the Dark, she has never felt the incredible sensations that course through your veins when you have successfully preformed the killing curse, she doesn't understand the incredible knowledge to be gained by studying the Dark Arts. How was he supposed to convince her that was the path to take?

Then it hit him, she doesn't know the power of the dark, she doesn't know the incredible sensations that course through your veins when you perform the killing curse, she doesn't know of the vast knowledge to be gained by studying the Dark Arts, she doesn't know!

That was it! He could show her the wonders of the Dark Arts! How simple it would be, with her thirst for knowledge, he would doubt that the urge to learn about it has never crossed her mind.

The only problem he would face would be Dumbledore, for Severus was sure that he knew he had seen the Dark Lord that night. In fact, he was surprised he hadn't had a visit from the old fool yet. Severus would have to see him in the morning and he needed to figure out something to tell him. He couldn't very well say that he now had a mission to turn the Granger girl into a Death Eater now could he?

Suddenly, he heard someone in the Floo and grumpily he stripped off the heavenly blankets and donned his robe. He opened the door to his living room and slammed his bedroom doors behind him. He looked at the fireplace and saw the annoyingly cheerful old face of Dumbledore staring back at him. "Yes Headmaster?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment."

Severus nodded his head and sat down on his couch, Albus following a moment later. "What is it that you wanted Headmaster?"

The twinkle left the old man's eyes as he looked back down at Severus, "Did he call tonight?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore nodded his head, "Did anything of importance happen?"

"Yes Headmaster. The Dark Lord has now set his sights on one of Potters Friends, the Weasley boy. He intends on killing him at the soonest possible time, in order to get to Potter. From what I understand, he plans on using a Hogsmead weekend to lure Potter and Weasley out of the castle, so that he can kidnap and eventually kill Weasley, and so Potter will chase after him and lure him into a trap. Though I do not doubt that if given the chance, he will kill Potter the moment he gets the chance."

The older Wizard nodded his head, "I will discuss this with the order at our next meeting then."

Severus quickly stood up, along with Dumbledore, "Headmaster, I do not think that is the wisest decision."

"And why is that my boy?"

Severus tried his best not to cringe at the term of endearment, "No doubt Molly and Arthur will want to pull the boy out of school when they hear he is in danger. Here he is safe. I believe the only measures that should be taken would be to not allow Potter and Weasley out castle grounds, away from the protection that Hogwarts brings. This is the only place the Dark Lord will not be able to find them."

Albus nodded once more, "Yes, Severus, that does seem to be the best course of action. But what about Miss Granger, surely Voldemort would use her in Mister Weasley's stead if it were more convenient."

"No, Headmaster. The Dark Lord wants nothing to do with the girl. She is muggleborn, therefore he does not want his Death Eaters to go anywhere near her. He would rather risk loosing Potter than having any of his loyal subjects become contaminated by her. Just goes to show how deep the Pureblood Supremacy runs in his veins."

Severus felt the presence of Albus in his mind immediately. He quickly put up his mental barriers and fed him the faked memories of tonight's revel. He allowed Albus to see other various memories help convince the old man, memories of him reducing a first year to hysterical tears, of taking points from Gryffindor, of him chastising Potter who, by the efforts of Granger, made it into his class. When it seemed as though Albus was satisfied, he left his mind, and Severus quickly apologized.

"Again, I am sorry Headmaster for keeping up some of my walls. There are just some memories, as you know, that are too painful to relive on a regular basis."

Albus looked down at Severus, a warm compassion emanating from his eyes as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Again, if you ever need to relieve yourself of such memories, you are more than welcome to use my pensive."

Severus nodded as he tried not to throw up, "I know Headmaster, but it is those memories that remind me that I made the right choice in switching sides; and I dare not take them out."

"Well then, dear boy, I will leave you to it. Goodnight Severus."

Severus nodded as he watched the old fool enter the floo, "Goodnight Headmaster."

As soon as he was gone, Severus once again returned to his bedroom. He quickly stripped off his robe and sunk under the sheets once more. Sleep came quickly, and he was gone before his head hit the pillow.

Ok, so I have decided to make this into an entire story. It will be somewhat of a slow starter, sorry for that. Thank ya'll so much for the reviews on the first chapter, they are part of what made me decide to continue on. Well, the updates will be MUCH more frequent then one every month, trust me. For those of ya'll who read BV, then you should know how fast I update. Um, well, I do still have antoher story going on, but that will be ending soon. I already have the last chatper written, I'm just delaying posting it. Don't ask me why, I just am. Um, well, I hope all of ya'll enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW, I'M BEGGING YOU!