Chapter 4

Meetings And Life

They arrived in front of a very big, very grand house which she could guess was riddle manor. Barty pulled her to him roughly, licking her cheek with his mark on once again, but this time she sivered, not out of fear but out of pleasure. He sensed it and smirked madly, he truly did look like an animal but... he was her animal. "be good hermione" he hissed "your life depends on it, you will now meet my, and maybe your master" she closed her eyes briefly, a single tear fell from her eye which he wiped away angrily His fingers tightened briefly on her wrist and his jaw tightened as he looked down at her." Do not show any weekness" he ordered "my lord does not favour it" he hissed once again. "Come on, we're expected," he said, his voice silky and rough and pulled her along as he headed towards the front door.

She clung to him, whitch he seemed to enjoy, as he lead her through the huge foyer. They passed under a garishly carved archway and into what looked like a dining room. Painting spotted the walls, portraits, landscapes, strange looking swirls that Hermione was too distracted to give more attention. Other then the paintings the room was sparingly decorated, white and grays the prominent colors, silver and glass abundant. She took a deep breath, ordering her mind to relax.

With a flick of his wand Barty opened two large doors and pulled her inside. At least ten Death Eaters stood in a line against the far wall. They stood completely still, for a moment Hermione thought that maybe they were simply the robes hanging, but the slight movement of one showed them to be real.

The room suddenly filled with whispers as she was led further into the room but was silenced by a deep hiss. Hermione's attention was drawn to the figure standing by the window. He stood tall, his pale flesh bathed in the moonlight, seeming to glow. Looking at him she felt as though all the warmth was being sucked from her body. He turned and Hermione took a deep breath when his hot red eyed gaze fell on her, piercing her soul and probing her her seventh year teachings, she shut her eyes tight, imagining two large iron doors between them and quickly slamming them shut.

She could feel his mind beating against the doors of hers, throwing wave after wave of power against her barrier. She heard him roar in her head.A deep, amused chuckle made her open her eyes to see Voldemort walking slowly towards her.

"I see Severus has taught you well, Miss Granger," he barely whispered, his voice more of a hiss with a coolness that made chills run down her spine. It hurt her to think that snape was probally dead, she never liked him but still it hurt."Not Severus," she answered her voice sounding stronger then she felt. "He could barely manage to put up with Harry in our fifth year, why would he put time into a Mudblood?"

She felt him probe at her mind again and this time she looked back into his eyes, more confident in her barrier. Voldemort grinned as he drew closer; reaching out to cup her jaw with his long, pale fingers. He was more snake then human, thin lips curled inwards over tiny pointed teeth, his nose gone leaving two grotesque moment the dark wizard reached for her she felt Bartys hand tighten on her wrist and she knew that to cringe away or show any sign of the disgust she felt would be a bad idea. Instead she swallowed hard and kept her eyes on his even as his cold fingers slid over her cheek and down her throat. His red eyes grew large as he touched her hair and cupped the back of her throat and Hermione had to clench her teeth to hold in the scream that welled up inside as he brought his face closer. His head tipped first to one side then the other, and by the sound of him pulling air through his two open nostrils she knew that he was sniffing her.

Barty still gripped her wrist and without thinking she wrapped her fingers around his. He pulled her closer, a movement so subtle that she wondered if he knew that he'd done it. But there was no time to warning Voldemort cupped her face in both his cold hands, long fingers stretching over the whole length, almost unnaturally. His narrow red eyes glared into hers again but this time she wasn't ready.

Snakes.

They filled her mind. She could feel them just behind her eyes, coiling, slithering; slick and wet and terrifyingly mind flashed, and she watched as Voldemort reviewed her thoughts, her life, her strange woman who came to her house to tell her parents that she was a witch, meeting Harry on the train, her first kiss with Victor Krum, yelling at Sirius for almost getting Harry killed again, her parents forcing her to choose between her world or theirs, the moments with Barty, dumbledore giving then the coins, tonkys dying, the order dying, remus dying, harry and ginny dying, her surrender to barty, her surrender to the dark lord.

At length she felt the slithery hold loosen and finally release her. It took her a moment to realize that Barty was holding her up with one strong arm around her waist and that she was gripping him tight enough to make him grimace. Tears welled up in her eyes but she remebered bartys words not to show any weakness."and why is it then, that you chose to surrender to me, rather than dying" he hissed. She swallowed hard " i do not want to die, and i would rather serve you and stay with barty" she wispered.

"well mudblood, i find your intelligence usefull and i would rather not waste such an oppertunity like this, there still is the matter of your blood thou but we could overcome that fact" he hissed thoughtfully "welcome miss granger to the dark side" he smiled sadistically at her and she shivered lightyly. She looked up at Bart who was smirking like animal, he looked adorable, where did that come from she wondered at herself angrilly. He looked at her and she almost melted into he coal black eyes. His smirk widenened. She turned back to voldemort " thank you my lord" she wispered before barty took her out of the room.