Chapter Five: Tantrums

Hermione and Voldemort had spent hours in his private lounge, joking, talking and acting more friendlier by the second.

The clock had struck midnight.

"Well then Cinderella, isn't time for you to go to bed? Don't want you turning into a pumpkin, don't like the things" Voldemort said, looking warily at the clock, they were both very drunk, having consumed the entire bar.

"Your just getting more and more charming by the second" mumbled Hermione.

Voldemort gave a feeble smirk, before getting out of his chair only to stumble and fall soon after, much to Hermione's amusement.

"Shut it" Voldemort groaned, trying to enable the ability to stand again.

Hermione laughed even more.

"I would like to see you try" Voldemort grumbled, resting on his arms, slightly shaky.

"Fine!" Hermione retorted, she got up gracefully, took one step and fell un-gracefully on top of Voldemort, before laughing again, this time at herself.

"I don't see what's so funny, you landed quite harshly on me" Voldemort smirked at her, not even feeling any pain.

"Sorry, guess we drank a little too much" She giggled.

"Yes, we did, we even drank a bottle of Firewhiskey that came from the eighteenth century, priceless…oh well, could just use a time turner to get another one" He said, gently pushing Hermione to his side, before getting up once more, this time holding on to the armchair for support.

Hermione still laid on the floor, paralysed by drink.

Voldemort rolled his eyes and picked her up gently, supporting her to his bedroom, stumbling a little himself.

He pulled back the purple covers and laid her down, she had fallen asleep.

He sighed before tucking her in, and sat down in a chair, falling asleep himself.

Hermione awoke the next morning with an amazing headache, her eyes refused to open, but with a little will power, they fluttered open, to be snapped shut at the amazing amount of bright light.

"Here, drink this, it's a hangover draught" Voldemort's voice came out of the blue.

She lifted her hand up, and within seconds a small bottle was pushed into it. She gulped it down, before sitting up and stretching. She felt slightly better, but her headache was still there.

A loud crash came from downstairs, and both Voldemort and Hermione cradled their heads with their hands, wincing at the noise.

"SHUT UP!" Roared Voldemort.

"You really need to make this room sound-proof" Hermione whimpered.

"It's just Wormtail, people are starting a fight with him again, but yes, that is a very good idea" Voldemort spoke back, sitting down on the bed beside Hermione.

"Yep, I am very useful at coming up with ideas" she said happily.

"I know, you were always the brains behind potter's operations, smart girl, girls like you don't come around too often" He applauded her.

Hermione was amazed to get such a compliment from someone who had a reputation for being dark, cold and un-forgiving.

"Dark, cold and un-forgiving? Nice to know you think so highly of me" He joked.

Hermione smiled meekly, she forgot he could do that.

"Not satisfied that I didn't even hurt you for entering my private floor? But now your insulting me, in my room?" He smiled.

Hermione giggled.

She had never felt this close to anyone before, not even Harry or Ron.

Well saying that, Harry was always aggressive and liked to shout at people for his problems, even and most specially when they were trying to help, and Ron was well…Ron.

But she knew she couldn't get involved with Voldemort, it wouldn't suit his reputation…not like he would go for a girl like her anyway.

Voldemort raised an eyebrow, reading her mind once more.

If that was what she thought.

Later on that day:

Hermione was sitting in Voldemort's private library when he stumbled in on her.

"Still here?" He asked, sitting next to her on the sofa she occupied herself with.

"Surprised?" she replied, not looking up from her book.

"Nope" he said, coolie.

She took a while answering, she was too interested in the book, which was on advanced potion making.

"Oh well, I'll have to try again later" she eventually replied.

Voldemort smirked, before talking again.

"You seem to like hanging around here don't you Hermione?"

"You seem to like having me here, my lord"

"What would give you that idea" he asked, curiously.

"You haven't thrown me out yet"

Voldemort laughed weakly, the darn headache was taking him over again.

"So my lord, what are your plans for today?"

"Call me Voldemort, and I don't particularly know, what about you? Going to go…shopping? Do your nails? Gossip?" He asked, not knowing what women liked to do in their spare time, having met only a few, and those being sadistic death eaters that liked to spend their time torturing.

"That's really stereotyping! But yes I was going to buy myself an Ipod today" She replied, putting the book down and facing him.

"May I come with you?" He asked.

"Don't you have people to torture, and find a way into the ministry to get those survivors?"

"Yes, apparently you have to have this Phoenix necklace, and I haven't been able to find anyone that has it" He replied meekly, embarrassed he was outsmarted by the order of the phoenix.

"You mean like this one?" She asked, holding out a golden chain, with a small golden phoenix at the bottom, it was in her pocket the whole time.

"How the fuck did you get that?" He asked, holding the necklace, examining it.

"I got it in my fifth year at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagle have it to me, I didn't know what it was at the time, thought it was a gift" She replied, watching him swirl the pendant through his fingers, his face lit up.

"Hermione, you are going to be really rewarded for this, wait until the others find out, now I really will have control over the entire population!" He gasped, before taking off out of the library. He turned back to face Hermione before leaving.

"I love you" He whispered.

Then he left without another word.

Hermione sat, paralysed by his words.

What the hell did he just say?

He…loved her? Or was it just pleasure at finding a way into the ministry? Hermione really couldn't tell. She definitely heard love though. He did say he loved her.

But did she love him?

She got up off the sofa and started walking out the long corridor, and down the stairs.

Well, she thought, I do like him, when he's not murderous and psycho. He did have a temper problem, and more mood swings than Bellatrix on her period, but he was charming, fun to be with when it was just her and him, and he did have a dark, attractive look about him.

Plus the best thing a girl can do in life, is change a man. Make him bend to her will.

Maybe she could control him, train him.

She laughed at the thought, making passer's by look at her, eyebrows raised.

She blushed and walked faster to the Death Eater lounge.

The only real friend she had in this lair was a girl called Ebony. She was a little like Hermione, except she was on the bigger side and had straight black hair that fell to her waist. But she was full of energy and had great jokes.

She walked into the dark, dreary lounge and saw Ebony almost immediately, in a corner drinking coffee and reading Teen Witch magazine.

She briskly walked over and sat down. Luckily for Hermione the room was almost deserted, being there was only three people inside, herself, Ebony and a old man asleep in the vast corner opposite them.

"Hey Ebony!" Hermione said, plonking herself down opposite her friend.

Ebony looked up, smiled broadly and put her magazine down beside her on the seat.

"Hey Hermione, listen to this joke, I just made it up this morning, it's a muggle one so you'll like it!"

Hermione sat, waiting.

Ebony cleared her throat before continuing.

"So this man is on a aeroplane, and he's getting ready to skydive, he jumps off and after a while he pulls the cord to release the parachute. Nothing happens, he pulls the emergency parachute cord, again nothing happens, so he's all like 'fuck sake'. And he's plummeting to the ground when he sees a man rising up into the sky, and on passing he shouts, 'know anything about parachute's?'. The man replies no, and asks 'know anything about gas cookers?'".

Hermione roared with laughter, causing the old man in the other corner to awake rudely, and stomp out of the room in a huff.

Hermione looked apologetically at the man leaving, before sniggering again.

"That's a good one, don't think many death eaters will get it though" Hermione said, levitating a drink of wine from the bar on the other side, and one for Ebony.

She sipped, in serious thought now, on whether to tell Ebony about what Voldemort said, and that she stayed the night in his rooms, and didn't even get punished.

She told her in the end.

"Holy crap Hermione, he said the 'l' word?"

Hermione nodded, looking around anxiously for intruders, she did the silencing spell around her, so no one could hear their conversation, by accident or on purpose.

"Not only that, but he told me to call him Voldemort, and he wanted to come shopping with me today. What am I going to do?" She whimpered, begging her friend for advice on the situation.

"I honestly don't know, but want to hear something interesting? Some one called Ron was taken into the dungeons today, he had bright red hair, and was muttering YOUR NAME!" She said, like it was something shameful.

Hermione's eyes widened.

Ron was here, and he might be dead already.

"Ebony, do you know how to get down there?" Hermione asked, her voice filled with panic. She had to help him, she was his girlfriend, but she thought he was dead!

"Yeah sure, lets go now" She said, getting up and leading the way.

Hermione followed, few knew how to get to the dungeons, but Ebony always said, there were around fifty cells, and on average twenty people went in their a day, and only one came out a week. The place must be overcrowded.

Ebony walked for what seemed like ages, further and further down the floors, and almost two hours later, they arrived at a wooden blood-stained door, Hermione felt sick just looking at it, some of the blood was old, some was new.

Handprints in blood laid all over the walls, and screams could be heard inside, through the one metre thick pure oak door.

Ebony pulled out a set of keys, and Hermione looked at her questioningly.

"Nicked them off my dad, he's manager of all prisoners.

"They unlocked the heavy door, and walked in, listening out for Ron's voice.

"Do you know which one he is in?" Hermione asked, but Ebony was looking through all the keys, there were around seventy of them.

"Should be here somewhere" She whispered, frantically searching.

"Hurry" Hermione whimpered, she feared it would be too late.

"My dad is going to kill me when he finds out I was down here…and nicked these blooming keys…Yes! He's in twenty-two, it says so on the key!" She gasped. They ran down all the cells, counting as they ran.

"Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, and here we go!" Hermione finished, staring at the door, it had bars on it, she peeked through, there was a lit torch on the wall, so she could see faintly. She spotted him in the corner and whispered his name.

"Ron! Over here you prat!"

Ron looked up glumly, before recognising who it was, he jumped onto his feet and ran over to the door. He looked horrible, he was bleeding from top to toe, and smelled like a mixture of sweat, blood and misery.

"Hermione! It's you! Your okay! I thought you died in the war…I've been going crazy about you 'Mione. I…So…Are you okay? Are you a prisoner too?" He asked.

Ebony was in the background, confused.

"Well no, not exactly Ron…I'm" She held up her left arm, revealing the dark mark.

"I'm a death eater" She finished.

Ron had a look of pure and utter horror and betrayal on his face.

"How could you? How? YOU STUPID WHORE!" He bellowed at her.

Hermione winced at backed away from the door, his arms though outstretched and grabbed around her throat, suffocating her.

"EB…EBONY!" She squealed.

She dropped her wand in the panic of things, but Ebony had left her wand upstairs with her Magazine.

"LET GO OF HER! STOP IT NOW, SOME ONE HELP, HE'S STRANGLING HERMIONE!" Ebony yelled, resting against the wall, panicking.

As soon as she yelled Hermione, Voldemort apparated to the scene, wand out and his robes billowing in the wind.

He yelled crucio with all his might, and Ron was flown backwards, withering in pain.

Hermione backed away, holding her red raw throat, but didn't give up on her friend, Ebony had legged it, seeing Voldemort appear.

"Stop it, Voldemort please don't hurt him!" Hermione moaned, tears crawling down her face.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER AGAIN WEASLEY!" He bellowed, lifting the curse.

"Lucius!" Voldemort yelled, and within moments, Lucius Malfoy was beside him, ready to take orders.

"Yes Master?"

"Kill Weasley, and not quickly either!" Voldemort demanded.

Lucius nodded, smirking.

"No Voldemort, I don't want him killed!" Hermione begged, latching onto his arm.

"He just tried to kill you, that's immediate death in my books!" Voldemort retorted.

"He didn't mean it he was upset!" Hermione pleaded.

"He is going to die!" Voldemort said.

"I LOVE HIM!" Hermione shouted.

Voldemort's face turned red, and he backhanded her hard around the face. She fell to the floor with a bang, her hair covering her red cheek, and she was gasping.

"You do not love him, Lucius leave, deal with Weasley later!" Voldemort spoke harshly.

Lucius bowed and left.

Voldemort kneeled down beside Hermione, who was unwilling to move.

"You do not love him" Voldemort hushed.

"But I do" She replied meekly.

He smacked her with the cruciatus curse, and she withered in pain furiously.

He released her from the spell, and brought his head to her ear, she was panting in fear.

"YOU do not love him. You love ME!" He said, before getting up and leaving.

Hermione stayed rooted to the spot, silent tears tweaking down her red, blotchy face.

The life she once knew, was gone.