Chapter 3- Giving up

The weeks passed and my life as I once knew it, changed drastically. Blaise made me go about my life as if everything was normal. He however made me sell my house and give him all of my money and possessions. At first I refused, saying that people would notice if my spending habits changed so suddenly. He laughed in my face when I said that. He then told me that some of his so called 'friends' had put about some rumours about me. Rumours that stated because I had lost my job I had become an alcoholic and an excessive gambler.

And I could do nothing about it. I was under constant threat that he would kill my friends. Blaise also made me go out in public, looking like a washed up drunk, to complete the look. It was even harder to appear this way towards my friends.

After apparently receiving disturbing reports about my health, Harry (who was the new minister for magic), Ron and Ginny decided to pay me a visit. Considering that I now didn't have a house, they thought that I was living on the streets. This was partly true- I had been living in the god forsaken flat that Blaise owned. They of course, didn't know this.

They found me sitting on a bench on Salazar Avenue, just staring into space.

"Hermione?" said Ginny uncertainly.

I merely looked at them through heavily bloodshot eyes. I had forgotten the countless times I had been forced to take drugs or drink.

"Yes?" I replied in a scratchy voice.

"What happened to you?" asked Harry.

I swallowed and took a deep, shaky breath. Tears stung my eyes. I looked up into their concerned faces and I almost told them what had happened. Until I saw Blaise watching us from across the street, hidden in a dark alley way. He made a gesture of slicing someone's neck with a sick smile upon his face.

"I don't want to talk to any of you. Just go away please," I said coldly, getting up from my seat.

"But Hermione-"Ginny started.

"No Ginny! I don't want to talk to you anymore! I hate you all alright? The fact that everyone loves you and practically worships the ground you walk on! What about me? No one remembers me anymore! Harry and Ginny, the perfect couple and Ron and Lavender... the same. Who cares about Hermione Granger! So just shove off out of my life!" I screamed at them as I jumped up from the seat, my hair whipping in front of my face.

"Hermione, we're your friends. You need help. Please Hermione," Ron pleaded.

"No I don't need your help! I can take care of myself just fine!"

"And she has my protection," said a voice I knew all too well as he entered our conversation.

"Zabini? What the hell are you doing here?" Ron exclaimed in anger and disbelief.

"Looking after my girlfriend of course. See Weasley, we're together now. Hermione and I. And I think that if you are her friends you'll respect her wishes and leave us alone."

"No! Hermione doesn't belong to you! She's our friend, actually she's more of a sister to us!" shouted Harry.

"What was that Potter?" Blaise whispered icily-.

"You better watch who you're talking to Zabini. Harry is minister for magic!" said Ginny.

"Oh I'm so scared! Ha! Hermione is mine now and there's nothing you can do about it! It's not like it's against the law is it?" said Blaise.

"Hermione?" asked Harry timidly.

"I already told you to go away. Please just leave me alone," I said in a voice that sounded like I had a head cold.

"I suggest you leave Potter. She obviously doesn't want you all anymore," smirked Blaise.

Harry stared at me for a long moment. Then he simply turned around and marched back the way he came. Ginny followed after giving me the strangest look and Ron only retreated when Ginny called out his name sharply. I felt like screaming at them to come and help me, to get me out of here. But I didn't. Blaise had already proved to me that he was lethal.

To many, it might have seemed odd that I was afraid of Blaise Zabini. I was one of the brightest witches of the age and I had faced many horrors during my life. I fought in the final battle. Why was I so scared?

There was simply one simple answer. Blaise Zabini killed my parents.

It happened before Harry, Ron and Ginny had come to talk to me. It happened a few days after Blaise had 'captured' me.

I hated the life that Blaise and his cronies lived, drinking and drug taking every night. He would become violent towards me and more than one occasion he would make me participate in sexual relations. In other words I screamed and tried to get away while he or others held me down. It was torture. On the fourth day I had to escape.

I remembered Blaise's threat about killing my loved ones but at that time I thought that he was all talk and no action. I figured that he'd be too wasted to ever do anything about it. I also thought that if I got to Harry and Ron in time, that they would be able to bring Blaise down. I was wrong.

I escaped on the fourth night after all of the flat's occupants had passed out. I quietly made my way to the front door and stepped out into the cool night air. Once I reached the pavement I broke into a run. I had to get away.

What I didn't realise was that Blaise had set up magical security alarms in the flat if I left the house at all on my own. I was always to be accompanied by someone. Blaise couldn't afford for me to escape and tell the world about what was going on in his house. So when I left, he knew. He knew where I would go first. To the Ministry of Magic.

Afterwards he told me what he had done to get me back. He woke everyone and gave them separate jobs to do. Five of them went to get my parents. He went after me.

He managed to corner me just outside the ministry in muggle London. I having no wand had to run all the way there. He apparated, and managed to just catch me. I remember hearing this loud crack behind me and them something knocked into me. I fell over crashing onto the ground. I heard someone shout a stunning spell and then everything went black.

I woke up about an hour later, back out the flat. I was in a mixture of horror and disbelief when my fear took over. I sank to my knees in the bare room I was locked in, and cried. I cried until someone opened the door of the room and dragged me out and down the hall to the living room. When I saw what was in there I screamed.

My parents hung from the ceiling, their bodies covered in blood and god knows what else. My father had an ugly gash in the side of his head and my mother had grazes and cuts all over her body. Both were naked. And both were dead, suspended from the ceiling by a thick amount of rope around their necks, their eyes glassy and wide. Then it all seemed to happen in slow motion.

I ran screaming in anguish into the room. I ran towards Blaise who was laughing at the sight of me. He merely flicked his wand and unbelievable pain washed over me. The cruciatus curse. I think I was already in enough pain. I sank to my knees screaming and crying, beating the floor with my hands, even after he took the curse off. He continued to laugh and watch me a twisted smile upon his face.

I snarled up at him from my place on the floor. A huge amount of hatred washed over me and all I wanted to do was kill him. I suddenly jumped up and ran at him again. Taken by surprise he fell to the floor as I tackled him and I hit and clawed at every part of his body. He yelled out something, but it was not distinctive to my ears. I only took notice when I was blasted away from Blaise and hit the opposite wall with a crash. My head wacked sharply against it and I crumpled to the floor in a heap.

Dazed I looked up to see him standing over me with his wand out. I look of loathing was plastid on his face.

"I should kill you now," He whispered dangerously. "But I won't you little bitch. You're far too valuable to me. This is a lesson to you. If you try and escape again, the same fate will happen to the rest of your perfect friends."

He walked out of the room and left me. I curled into a little ball and cried again. But this time in grief and despair for my parents. They were muggles, I thought. They couldn't protect themselves and yet Blaise did what he said he would do if I escaped. It's my fault their dead.

With these thoughts, I shook all over and cried long into the night.

This was what I remembered the day Harry, Ron and Ginny came to talk to me. I couldn't risk it again.

The next couple of weeks passed like a blur. Blaise was taking over my life and I lost most of my will to live. He didn't even have to put me under the imperious curse. I just did what I was told to do.

One day Blaise told me of a mission (that's what he called it). It involved gatecrashing a celebration and remembrance of Dumbledore's death at the ministry. It would entail me embarrassing myself and Harry. For Harry I felt ashamed that I was going to do that. But for me I felt nothing. I was numb. I no longer felt anything.

The plan was to go to the ball the ministry was hosting, where there would be many wealthy and famous witches and wizards. I was to dress in baggy old clothes and I appear drunk and disorientated. Then I had to go on the stage at the front of the large hall where the ball was, and then enraged many people in the audience. I had to kiss Harry to anger Ginny and then kiss Ron to anger Lavender. And then to enrage everybody there I had to bad mouth Dumbledore and Harry to the audience.

When Blaise told me of the plan, I thought that it was stupid and not thought out at all. I was sure that Harry and Ron would see through this and would help me. Again for many times in that month I was wrong. The believed everything I did that night. Blaise's stupid plan worked. Harry shouted at me to never set foot in the ministry again as I was a disgrace to the wizarding world. Everyone in the audience agreed with him and glared and jeered at me as I was dragged out of the hall by too aurors.

And that was how I ended up with no friends.

Pretty soon many months passed. I lost track of the days I had spent in blaise's 'company'. I was still made to drink, take drugs and be a sex slave to the flat mates of Blaise. It was horrible but I was immune to it now.

When I walked along the streets of Diagon Crossing, people would mutter about me and point me out to their friends. I had a few people call me names, the nicest being drunk, hobo and prostitute. I don't even want to remember the other names that people called me.

There was one day when I overheard an old lady talking to another elderly lady: "Oh that girl over there is Hermione Granger. Apparently she used to be friends with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley! Oh my lord I have no idea how that happened! She was part of their golden trio. Good gracious I heard that she's a drunk and a hooker now. How amusing!"

Both women started laughing at me. I sighed sadly. This is what I had become. No one realised that I had no choice in the matter. I was quite the actress in a way. I had played my part well. But now, I thought, it's time for me to end my acting career.

By this time I had completely lost the will to live. I wanted it to end. I no longer had anything to live for.