A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! It really means so much to me, especially because I know this is so different from what I usually write. If you are looking for more Antomione, I just posted the last chapter (epilogue pending) of another Antomione story called Fille du Roi, so you can check it out. Or, you can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter three and be on the lookout for chapter four soon!


Before Hermione could even open her eyes, her head was spinning. She was laying on a slightly uncomfortable bed, but it felt as if she were on a ship, listlessly rocking without a rhyme or reason. Groaning, she tried to open her eyes, only to find them feeling scratchy and swollen, as if she'd been crying all night.

But then she remembered, she had been crying all night.

Looking up at the plain white ceiling, she tried to remember exactly what had happened the day before, because this was clearly not the shabby townhouse known as Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

It came back in flashes. She'd gone to deal with her parents. They'd been murdered...by the Order. She'd gone to Knockturn Alley and drank more than she thought was possible, and ran into Antonin Dolohov. Hermione groaned, running a hand over her face. She was in Dolohov's flat. She'd asked him to help her kill two people. And he'd agreed.

She blushed. She'd accused him of wanting to fuck her.

The room was spinning more and more, and suddenly, Hermione was aware that she was going to be sick. Hopping up from the bed, she shuffled from the room, not caring that she was just wearing a shirt, and stumbled into the bathroom, cursing when she hit her hip on the edge of the sink hard enough to bruise.

Dropping to her knees, Hermione lifted the toilet lid, dry heaves turning into full on vomitting. Tears sprung to her eyes again, and she felt like she was dying, as she heaved again and again. Hermione was just glad that she hadn't had anything to eat the day before, so everything that came back up was pure liquid.

She was alerted to another presence in the room, when comforting fingers raked through her wild hair, pulling it back and whispering a charm to hold it in a tight coil on the top of her head, keeping it out of her face. His hand rubbed calming circles up and down her back, which honestly made Hermione feel much better than she was expecting. Soothing words that it would be alright met her ears.

When it seemed like she was finally done, Hermione lifted her sweaty face from her arms, flushing the toilet. Merlin, she couldn't think of a single time that she was more embarrassed. Dolohov stood from his spot behind her, before he started digging though his cabinent. He swore under his breath. "Sorry, I am out of hangover cure, but I've got this for your head ache."

Hermione shakily stood from the ground, taking the vial hesitantly. One look into his dark eyes made her realize that he was actually concerned about her. She took the offered vial, rationalizing that Dolohov's style was decidely not to poison her. He was vindicite enough that if he was going to try to kill her, he'd take his time with it. She drank the green liquid greedily, glad that it was spearmint flavored.

"Why don't you clean yourself up. When you are done, I will have some toast waiting for you in the kitchen." He offered, before leaving her alone in the bathroom.

Hermione splashed some water on her face, before running her hands through her hair, releasing it from the charm. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do for it. She looked longingly at the shower, but couldn't bare the thought of that when she had no fresh clothes to change into. Slipping out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom, she changed back into her clothes from the day before, leaving his shirt neatly folded on the bed.

She groaned. She couldn't believe that she'd gone home with Dolohov. He'd nearly killed her once before and she'd been utterly frightened of him. But now...in less than twelve hours, she felt completely different about him. He made her feel safe.

The day before, her whole world had been flipped upside down, and she felt like she couldn't trust anyone, well and truly alone. But then Dolohov had swept in. He'd been truly kind to her, and he certainly didn't seem scary anymore. He'd been the only one to help her when she really needed it, not wanting to think about what would have happened if she'd stayed at the pub.

Plus, he'd promised to help her learn the Avada Kedavra. Or at least, she thought that he had. Really, once they'd arrived at his flat, things got a little bit fuzzy.

Looking around the flat, she was really saddened. There was almost nothing personal here. Nothing to reveal the kind of person the resided here. Really, that just made her sad. Surely there was more to Antonin Dolohov than being a Death Eater?

She walked into the kitchen and sat in the chair that Antonin had conjured. He slid a piece of dry toast in front of her, as well as a glass of lukewarm water. Hermione took the glass and took big gulps of the water, feeling parched. "Easy, take little sips until you are sure you won't be sick again." Antonin scolded, making her cheeks blush a bright red.

"Speaking from experience?" She accused, only to wince at her tone. Why was she being so rude to him when he'd only been helpful to her? She took a bite of toast to keep her mouth occupied. Her stomach protested when she swallowed, only to settle moments later.

He smirked, knowing that she was living through the hangover of her young life. "Yes." He said firmly, having seen the wrong end of a firewhiskey bottle several times in his life. "Once you finish the toast I will run down to the pub and get you a proper breakfast."

Hermione was going to protest that she couldn't possibly eat anything, until her stomach began growling, insisting that she really would like some food. Dolohov tried to hide his laugh, but wasn't very successful. He picked up his cloak from the coat hook. "I'll just go now, I'm starved myself."

The curly-haired witch couldn't deny that she was surprised that Dolohov would just leave her alone in his flat, but then again he didn't have anything here that she could really take. Briefly, she thought about just leaving - it would be simple to apparate away - but then she was reminded that she didn't have anywhere else to go.

Dolohov, meanwhile, made his way down to the pub on the corner of his block. He ordered two full English breakfasts, drawing a raised eyebrow from the proprieter. Antonin was a usual at the pub, stopping in for food quite frequently - never finding the time to go grocery shopping himself - whenever he was at his flat and not out on business. But he never ordered enough food for two people. "You have someone staying with you?" The nosy man asked.

Antonin sneered back at the man, annoyed that he would try to get in his business. "I do bring the occassional witch home for a shag." He said, hoping that his oversharing would disgust the man enough to leave him alone. To Antonin's immense joy, it worked, sending the man into the kitchen to get the order out as quickly as possible.

He didn't have to wait long until the food was presented to him, along with a disdainful glare. He paid before laughing. "Look, I'm just trying to be a gentleman." He said with a shrug of his shoulders, before leaving the pub. If Hermione knew what had just transpired, he was sure she'd be irate at him for suggesting that anything untoward was happening between them.

In the light of the day, he was even less sure of why he was helping the little witch, but he knew that there was no changing his mind about it. He wanted to protect her, care for her. He was sure it had something to do with the fierce way she'd stood up for herself the night before.

Hermione was pleased by the offer of breakfast, happily digging into the over medium eggs and bangers. It was a little bit funny to see the normally prim witch drop her manners, as hungry as she was. He briefly wondered when the last time she ate was.

But before long, breakfast was over, and there was no putting off their conversation any longer. They needed to talk about what was going to happen. "Erm, Dolohov." She said, hesitantly. "The Order will have noticed that I'm gone by now, so...there is no going back for me any more. I need to know. Are you going to help me?"

Her stared at her serious face for a moment. What did she imagine was going to happen? "What do you think I've been doing so far, kitten?" He watched her nose scrunch in frustration when he called her his nickname. "But, I make no promises after you've...fulfilled your plans." He couldn't just keep her around once she'd killed the two people who he'd asked to help her kill. He would maybe give her a head start, but then, it would be back to basics.

Hermione sucked in an excited breath. "So you'll help me, then? You'll teach me how to perform the Killing Curse?" Seeing his cautious nod, Hermione sighed. "I don't have any money to pay you right now, but I can get you some later."

"Pay me? Why would you do that?" He groused.

"I thought that you were...kind of like a hit wizard?" Hermione said cautiously. "Don't you...kill people for money? You-know-who gives you a reward?"

Dolohov shook his head. Taking money from her seemed vulgar in some way. "You won't pay me." He said firmly. "Consider this...pro bono." He knew that if he claimed to have killed Sirius Black and Bill Weasley, the Dark Lord would still be pleased enough that he might even get a reward...even if he'd been harboring a mudblood.

"I think we should go back to my house. I have some things there that I well...I need. I can't just go on wearing your clothing, and I would feel better if I had them." She said, looking down at her plate.

Antonin wanted to groan. It would be a huge risk to go back to the house, especially since he was a known Death Eater. But then, it was in a muggle area so if they came across any muggle police, he could just have Hermione obliviate them. "You'll have to apparate me." He said, with a wince. It had been a long time since he'd been the passanger of a side-along apparition and he hoped Granger had practiced enough not to splinch him.

Hermione nodded, before offering him her arm. He tensed immediately, anticipating what was sure to be an uncomfortable situation. Hermione huffed, annoyed that he didn't have as much faith in her as she did in him. "Relax." Her voice was soothing, and he found his muscles unbunching, relieved of tension, like she'd just put a calming charm on him.

With a pop, they landed in a bedroom that was clearly meant for a little girl, considering the small size of the bed. If Antonin tried to sleep in it, his legs were sure to fall off the end. Having never been into a muggle home before, he couldn't deny that he was curious, and walked out into the hall while Hermione shuffled around the pink bedroom, putting things into a bag. Undetectable extension charm. He thought, with a smile. Hermione was smart, that was a certainty.

The floor was all carpeted and he could tell that he was on a second floor. Across the hall was another bedroom, likely for guests, based on the thin layer of dust that had accumulated in the room. It was probably only cleaned in preparation of a visitor. A bathroom was the next room down the hall, and it was much nicer than the bathroom he had.

Really, the whole house was much nicer than he expected. He supposed he was right when pegging Hermione as an upper middle class girl. He wondered what the life of an upper middle class muggle girl was like. What would Hermione's life be like if she hadn't been born a witch?

At the end of the hall, there was a set of stairs. Antonin was about to walk down the stairs when he peeked over the edge. There was blood everywhere, dried and nearly black. In just a few hours, too, a smell had already began to form. He was surprised that no one had found the bodies yet. The Dark Mark no longer lingered over the home, so he wondered why they hadn't been discovered.

Before he could make any more movements down the stairs, though, he was alerted to the sound of two pops. It was unmistakeably, the noise of apparition, he thought, his hand immediately tightening around his wand. He hissed to Hermione that they had company.


When Bill and Sirius had left the Grangers' home the day before, they decided to set up a charm to determine when someone re-entered the house. Bill had performed the ward himself, but they had been getting antsy when nothing had happened nearly 24 hours later.

Especially when Hermione appeared to be missing. They'd decided not to tell Harry and Ron that she was missing, when they didn't know where she was or why she'd left. It had made all of the Order members a little bit nervous, but Bill and Sirius were confident that Hermione couldn't possibly know what had happened.

Sirius had suggested that perhaps she had a secret boyfriend and lost track of time. That had made Bill smirk. "Ron will be so disappointed if that's the case. He can't stop making eyes at her, it's a bit obnoxious."

The charm finally went, though, and Bill and Sirius didn't hesitate to aparate over to the Grangers' home. The bodies were still where they had left them in the living room, and they'd begun to smell. Still, they could hear definite movement in the second floor and quiet voices.

Bill's mind was already whirling with ways to explain to Hermione that her parents had been killed. They would wrap her up and get her back to Grimmauld Place, before breaking the news to her. It would be better if she didn't have to see the bodies.

He wasn't expecting Antonin Dolohov to come down the stairs, moving slowly. The man was immense, blocking the hallway. Bill had always been one of the tallest guys in the room, but he was sure that Dolohov would tower over him. He was well aware of the man, who had at one time been a promising curse breaker at Gringotts, until he turned to a life of murder. The goblins still liked to complain that he'd gotten away after he learned all their secrets.

Sirius shot off the first hex, only to have it blocked by Dolohov, sending it ricochetting around the room, breaking something that Bill couldn't see. He was too busy blocking the jinx that Dolohov had sent his way, only to get clipped in the arm. He hissed, before seeing the telltale bushy hair of Hermione Granger making her way down the stairs.

"Hermione! Get back!" Bill called out. "Dolohov has killed your parents. Get back to Grimmauld Place." In hindsight, they should have been surprised at the way Dolohov smiled and stepped aside for Hermione to come down the stairs. "Merlin, Hermione, you look terrible." Bill said before he could think better of it.

But she did look terrible, like she'd gotten very poor sleep at least. Her eyes were red and puffy like she'd been crying and Bill didn't remember her looking quite so thin. Her cheeks were hollowed and her cheekbones prominent. Clearly that hadn't happened overnight...just how long had she be in some state of distress?

The most disturbing thing was the sneer on her face, which would look more at home on the face of a Malfoy than the loveable, annoyingly swotty bookworm that they lived with at Grimmauld Place. "How dare you?" Her voice was deadly serious, and confused both the men.

She sent a jinx at Bill's feet which he was not prepared for in the least. It sent him sprawling on his arse, and it made Dolohov laugh. "How dare you blame this on Dolohov, when you are the ones that murdered my parents?"

"Whatever he's told you, Hermione, is wrong." Sirius said, with his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. He spoke softly, trying to convince the fierce witch that he was telling the truth.

Unfortunately, Hermione didn't believe it for two seconds, and was sending a curse at Sirius as well. He barely had time to set up a shield to block himself from what was certain to be particularily nasty. They knew that Hermione was a bit vindictive and stubborn, but they never expected her to be so vicious.

"Don't lie to me!" She screached, hair crackling around her with excess magic. Her raised wand was still poised on Sirius Black, not focused on Bill, who was still struggling to regain his footing. "I saw you yesterday. I know that the pair of you killed my parents, and I know why you did it, too!"

"Hermione, I know this must come as a big shock to you, but...we didn't." Sirius said, weakly. Perhaps he knew that she wasn't going to accept his lies, or maybe he realized that there was no way out of them either.

"How idiotic do you have to be that you didn't even cast a homenium revelio?" Disgust was palpable in her voice. "Oh yeah, I learned that when I was working my butt off to help Harry." She said, bitterly. The idea that she wouldn't work hard enough for Harry was probably what stung the most.

While she was tearing into Sirius, Bill had regained his footing and attempted to shoot a spell at her, only to have it deflected by Antonin, an absolutely murderous look in his dark eyes for daring to send a spell at the girl.

That caught Hermione's attention though. "I want you to know a little bit of the pain that I felt, knowing that people I trusted, people I thought were my friends, had betrayed me like this." With her wand raised, face scrunched in effort, Hermione attempted to cast the crucio curse. It was weak, and probably stung Bill a bit where it hit him, but it wasn't nearly powerful enough.

Antonin saw what Hermione meant about messing up the Killing Curse if she attempted it without instruction. Sure, she had plenty of the raw rage and anger to produce a weak version of the spell, but she was still too sweet. She didn't want it enough. She couldn't channel her hurt and sadness into intent. Still, he could already sense that she would be an excellent student.

He could kill the two men standing in the Grangers' living room easily enough right now, but he wanted Hermione to have this little bit of closure, and there was no way she was going to defeat them in a duel today. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he watched as she came back to herself. "Do you have what you needed?" He asked gently.

She took a deep breath, before nodding to him, not trusting herself to speak. She never took her eyes off of the two men, now that she knew they had no qualms about hexing her too. Antonin gripped her hand tightly in his, before apparating them away from the Grangers', leaving Sirius and Bill alone with their thoughts.

"Fuck!" Sirius shouted when they popped out of sight. "We should have put up anti-apparition wards." In hindsight, really it would have been a good idea.

"I don't know what good that would have done." Bill said quietly, dread pooling in his belly. "Hermione seemed comfortable with Dolohov. You don't think...you said perhaps she was seeing someone?" The idea that Hermione would ever be in a relationship with a Death Eater seemed preposterous, but still, he couldn't be sure. What other explanation could there be for the interactions that they'd witnessed.

Sirius shook his head. "I don't think so. But...fuck, I can't believe that Hermione knows. We are royally screwed. If Harry finds out what I've done, he'll be pissed."

"At least now we have a way to explain Hermione's absence." Bill said thoughtfully. "It should at least calm everyone down for a while. We can say that Hermione spent the day with her parents, but Dolohov killed her parents and kidnapped her." Anything but to admit that they fucked up.

The older man nodded, rubbing his chin. "That's brilliant. Then, if she shows up and tries to implicate us, we can just claim that she's under imperious, until we can get her alone to obliviate her and plant a false memory."

"And if...what if there was something going on between her and Dolohov? Other people might now." Bill was trying to hedge their plan, thinking that they had been a bit too sloppy with their plan to kill the Grangers. He wasn't going to make the same mistakes a second time.

Sirius grinned. "The more I think on it, the more far-fetched it seems. Really, you think an old bigot like Dolohov, someone in you-know-who's inner circle, would be having a relationship with a muggleborn?"

"I suppose you are right." Bill conceded, though it still didn't explain what she was doing with him. "Though we should probably watch our backs...if Hermione is with Dolohov, he is a formidable foe. Now, I suppose we should go tell the Order the news." The two men performed the charm again to alert them if anyone reentered the house, hoping that Hermione would be foolish enough to come back. Then, the apparated back to Grimmauld Place, masks of despair on their faces.