Chapter 4

As they continued their walk to breakfast, Hermione explained her idea. Draco's smirk grew into a full-on grin by the time they reached the dining room door.

"It's evil," he commented, "I'm impressed, Granger."

"Thank you," she replied, doing a mock curtsy. He opened the door and gestured for her to enter.

Narcissa and Lucius were already there, as they were normally the first two to arrive. Pansy, Goyle, Crabbe, Bellatrix and Macnair were seated as well. She sat down quietly, watching as Draco took the seat across from her. Looking around, she saw that Blaise was the only person not present, so no one had begun eating. He better get here soon or he's going to be in trouble, on top of having to deal with our prank, she thought. Hermione cast a covert glance at her watch, seeing that Blaise had one minute before he was late—and Lucius did not respond well to people's tardiness at his house.

Bellatrix was tapping her fingers on the table in a perfected pattern, as Draco conversed with Pansy. Crabbe and Goyle were muttering to each other, and Lucius had started up a conversation with Macnair about an upcoming raid. She noted that Narcissa and Bellatrix were the only two not immersed in a discussion and immediately started up a conversation that they hadn't finished yesterday in the gardens.

Ten minutes later, Lucius instructed a house-elf to find Blaise, and told everyone else that they could begin eating. And the Order wonders spells and potions are keeping the Death Eaters in shape, Hermione thought, as she looked around at the options on the table, they just eat healthy, unlike the food that Molly cooked. Hermione poured herself some orange juice and took a piece of toast, hoping to settle her stomach. She really needed to grab a hangover potion after breakfast. I wonder who's going to cook now that she's gone, she wondered, knowing that nobody else had the slightest clue how to make any decent food, oh Merlin, what if they demote me to cook? As she was taking a sip of her juice, Blaise appeared in the doorway. When he saw everyone eating, his face dropped—he knew how late he was.

"Sorry, I'm late," he said breathlessly, as he breezed into the room and sat down next to Draco, "had a bit of a late night last night," he said, looking at Hermione and winking.

"Why are you looking at Granger?" Draco asked, "She wasn't invited. She didn't step foot out there the entire night."

"That's true, why are you looking at the Mudblood?" Pansy asked.

"Because she was there!" Blaise exclaimed, looking around at his friends in bewilderment, "I know she was."

"No she wasn't," Goyle said, slowly. He then burst into laughter. Blaise cast a look at her, but she kept a straight face.

"Silence," Lucius said, curtly, "come to my study after breakfast, Blaise." Blaise nodded glumly, pouring some coffee and filling it until it almost sloshed over the top. With a wicked grin, Hermione turned back to her breakfast. Brilliant, a foreign thought appeared in her head, he thinks he's going mad. Hermione laughed quietly, I almost feel bad for him, she replied to Draco, except I was smashed, so he took advantage of me anyway.

After breakfast, Hermione headed to the Potions stores, hoping to get her hands on a hangover potion. As she was walking though, she heard moaning from a room down the hall. She rushed over to the door, and pulled it open without thinking. Blaise was writhing in pain on the ground, with Lucius standing above him. This was obviously the punishment for being late to breakfast. Hermione stood frozen in the doorway.

"Sorry, sir, I didn't know that—"

"Get in here, you stupid girl," snarled Lucius, beckoning her in angrily. What have I gotten myself into? Hermione thought, as she dutifully walked into the room, "Don't enter rooms without knocking, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Crucio." He said, calmly. Hermione had gained some experience with the Cruciatus curse since arriving at the Manor, mostly since she had forced Draco to perform it on her so she could gain a better tolerance. Lucius's Crucio was stronger than his son's, but she wasn't going to scream. Instead, she braced her feet to the floor, clamped her jaw shut and kept her eyes focused on Lucius's. The pain was indescribable, of course, but she knew he would respect her if she managed through it without screaming, fainting or falling down. It seemed that he knew her mission, his eyes holding a challenge in them as he kept the curse on for longer than usual. Finally, when she felt like her lungs were going to explode, a short scream was forced from her throat. Damn, she thought, as she collapsed onto the floor. Looking up, she saw that Lucius still looked impressed. She pulled herself to her feet.

"You lasted quite a long time, longer than anyone your age ever has," he told her, "Very good. You may go, but remember what I told you."

"Don't enter rooms without knocking, yes sir," said Hermione, softly, speaking without moving her mouth much, so he wouldn't see the blood she extracted from biting her tongue. As she exited the room, she spit the blood out and wiped her mouth. She didn't see Malfoy until it was too late. He was leaning against a nearby wall.

"Granger, did you walk into Blaise's punishment?"

"Yes," she muttered, "on accident."

"So, you got tortured too, huh? How did our practice prepare you?" Malfoy asked, pushing himself off of the wall with his shoulder.

"He was impressed," she said innocently, "I did better than you."

"I don't believe you," Draco replied, following her as she began to walk down the hallway.

"I don't care," Hermione said, simply, "it's the truth."

Draco shrugged, "Guess I'm a better teacher than I thought."

"Yes, Malfoy, it was all because of you," Hermione said, sarcastically, "let's give your ego even more of a boost."

"Let's," Draco agreed, before rifling quickly through his pockets and tossing her a vial, "I grabbed you a hangover potion from the stores."

She cast him a look before opening the vial and chugging it,

"Thanks. I was about to grab one myself before—"

"Before taking a detour for a quick torture session?"

"Very funny." She said, "Well, I'm going to go back for my trip to another torture session."

"Good luck with that," he called, as she walked up the stairs, "see you tonight!"

Oh, right, she thought, the dinner. Although she and Draco were having a relativity cordial morning, she wasn't exactly looking forward to spending hours in the company of the rest of the former Slytherins.

After packing, by hand in order to calm her nerves, Hermione looked at her watch to realize she still had hours before she needed to get ready for dinner. She decided to go see what Narcissa was doing.

And she was found in the dungeons, making potions. As soon as Hermione entered, Narcissa said,

"Hello Hermione, can you grab me some werewolf hair from that jar?"

"Sure." Hermione said, heading to the area that Narcissa had gestured at. Once she had gotten some, she went over to Narcissa and handed her the ingredient.

"What potion are you making?" Hermione asked, intrigued.

"How about you tell me? The ingredients are werewolf hair, bat spleen, and—"

"Reconstructive Potion," stated Hermione, confidently. She resisted the urge to spout off all the information she knew about the potion, thinking of what Draco said about instincts and her reciting unnecessarily.

"Very good. What should be the next step?"

"After you stir in the werewolf hair and stir counter clockwise for a minute and a half exactly, you should wait until it simmers."

"Again, very good. And I'm done stirring. What brings you down here on such a beautiful day?"

"Well," started Hermione, "I don't really have anything to do right now. I've packed for tomorrow, and I'm free until the dinner tonight with your son and his friends."

"Yes, of course, the dinner. Well, we could always use more potions in the stores, if you want to make something."

That is how Hermione spent the afternoon. She made Reviving potions, and numerous other healing potions. Along with that, she made several pain-inflicting potions used for torture. By the time she had to leave to get ready for dinner, she was in a fantastic mood that not even Draco's cronies could get rid of. As she changed into her black slip dress, she wondered if she and Draco would keep up the cordialness they had had earlier that morning. It would definitely be interesting finding that out. However, she knew exactly how the rest of them were going to act. It's funny to think they haven't matured a bit since Hogwarts, she thought, as she waved her wand to apply make-up. As she headed out the door, she tossed aside the black cardigan that she had been planning on wearing over her revealing dress.

Everyone was already waiting in the entry hall. Pansy had her hand clamped onto Draco, who looked repulsed.

"Took you long enough," Draco spat, using the opportunity to detach himself from Pansy and walked over to her. "Here's the deal, Granger," he said quietly, "I like to think we've been having a good day, and we can keep it that way—just as long as you help me keep away from Pansy."

Hermione smiled affably, before speaking loudly, "Of course, Draco. Shall we go?" She grabbed his arm gently, glancing in Pansy's direction. "You've got a deal." She whispered, and the two of them Apparated to the restaurant.

Draco and Hermione had both taken their seats next to each other, before the rest of the group showed up. Pansy shot a glare at Hermione, before sitting across the table from Draco. Immediately, she tried to strike up a conversation, but Draco turned to face Hermione.

"So," started Malfoy, "any questions about your mission?"

"Only one," Hermione said, "Is there any way to cover the Dark Mark? I know that traditional concealing charms won't work on it, and somehow I think wearing long sleeves all summer might be considered to be a little suspicious."

He grabbed her left arm and pulled it under the table slightly to hide the view of anyone looking at her in the restaurant. He turned it over so her Dark Mark was upright, before pulling out his wand and pointing it at the Mark.

"Concealeletio," he muttered, and the Dark Mark vanished.

"Well, that answers my question." Hermione said, rolling my eyes.

"It's more complex than that; it will keep you safe at the Order. Only the person who casts the charm can remove it."

Hermione nodded, and the group continued dinner.

Hermione woke up at 8:30; Bellatrix told her that she was to leave at 10am, and breakfast would be at 9am. So, hurriedly, Hermione got up and took a quick shower. She dressed in what she would usually wear at the Order—jeans, a polo and sneakers. Next, she used the Appearance charm to change her hair back to its normal bushiness. Looking into the mirror, she saw the woman she hadn't seen in two weeks. Sneering, she levitated her trunk and headed downstairs.

After dropping her trunk off by the door, she headed into the dining room. Everyone was there, but she knew it didn't matter that she was late—she had been preparing for her mission after all. As Hermione sat down, people began eating. Hermione, who knew she needed her strength to act, took exactly what Bellatrix had on her plate. After all, Bellatrix was a person that Hermione could really learn from.

The hour-long breakfast came to a close, and people began coming up to Hermione to wish her luck, and to give her some tips. Lucius and Draco came up last.

"Draco will be performing the concealment charm on your Mark, so no one can force you to reveal it, or try to themselves. You were gone for a while and during the time of the Weasley's wife's death, which might seem suspicious to some people."

"Yes, sir."

"And good luck."

"Thank you, sir."

With that, Lucius walked away, leaving Hermione alone with Draco.

"So we'll be meeting you every Thursday at 11pm—Emerald Park, okay? Don't be late, we'll need to keep the meetings brief. However, if something is up, and you don't think you can leave headquarters under the radar, then don't come. It's not worth the risk."

"Right."

"Now, give me your arm." He ordered. Hermione lifted it up, and Draco put the point of his wand onto her Mark, stating the spell.

"Good luck, then, Granger." Draco said, nonchalantly, "Don't get caught."

"I won't," Hermione promised, but Malfoy had already walked off. Bellatrix came up to her a moment later.

"We'll be seeing you at meetings, then. We've got news for you at the next one."

"Alright, Bellatrix."

"Good luck," she said, gracing Hermione with a small smile. She then walked off as well. Hermione was left standing alone for a few minutes, until Lucius walked up to her.

"It's time."

Author's Note: Redone as of 10/20/14