Every passing second made Hermione more and more anxious. In her mind she had no doubt that Draco would indeed let Voldermort know that the supposedly dead, best friend of Harry Potter was actually the new slave in his house.

It would probably earn him a higher place In Voldermort's circle perhaps? Although she doubted that there was a position any higher than what the Malfoys had. Having Lord Voldermort for lunch was probably as close as one could get to him.

She was shocked out of her thoughts by the sound of a gong going off in the kitchen reminding her that lunch should be started to be prepared, which gave them no time for a breather from breakfast preparations. In her distracted state Hermione forgot that she was holding a glass bowl and the noise of the gong shocked her into letting go of it and it crashed loudly on the floor shattering to pieces.

The elves were suddenly panicked and looked scared. Was there a lot of repercussion for breaking the bowl? Afterall a 'reparo' would fix it.

"Oh god I'm sorry...I was startled...I"

Suddenly Winky was at her side and clicked her long thin fingers fixing the bowl instantly and returning it to her hands.

"Miss should be more careful. Masters don't like mess. Clumsy they say. Ought to be punished. Miss should tread carefully with the young master, miss should. " The elf muttered shacking its large eared head and getting back to work. "Winky remembers miss and the young master argue all the time at the school Winky does. But should no more..."

"Er..Thanks Winky" this was the first time Winky had actually associated with her and mentioned something of knowing Hermione, other than the jobs she was supposed to do.

"Miss must be careful" The elf repeated before wondering off.

"The elf, know you too?" Raven arched her thin eyebrows watching Hermione watch the elf thoughtfully.

"Yeah, she used to work at Hogwarts too, after Crouch gave her 'clothes' that is"

And yet again Hermione's mind drifted off to her friends. Harry and Ron and their stupid antics, Harry's love for adventure and his strange attraction to troublesome situations, Ron's in and out wit rants about teachers, wrongly done homework. How she missed them all. And instead of being with her friends, or at least dieing with her friends she was stuck here in the house of her worst enemy. And now she was about to be exposed to the most feared of them all. Perhaps she feared him less than most others in her position would but she had seen first had how torturous he was.

She highly doubted he would kill her. No, that would be too merciful.

Outside Draco Malfoy too was lost in a completely different train of thoughts. He had yet to inform his mother about his newly acquired knowledge. He didn't know why but he had kept that to himself. He had yet to share this knowledge with his father or even his best friend. Blaise Zabini. He knew Blaise well enough to trust him to keep his mouth shut had Draco asked it of him, but for some reason he had refrained from owling his friend.

Since he saw her in the kitchen speaking to the other mudblood girl – Raven?- he had been quite sure that this was indeed the very well known Hermione Granger. But she had definitely changed. Had she not been a filthy mudblood he would call her 'attractive'.

Her childish bushy hair had grown into more luscious curls as he witnessed early this morning. Her eyes...those were the major give away to her identity. Unchangingly deep and large in its cinnamon hue recognition had hit him the instance he met them and yet his sense had told him otherwise. Why did he remember the mudbloods eyes? Perhaps it was all the time they had stared out at him in hatred, challenge and defiance. Just like she had done this morning.

That had certainly made him give her a grudging amount of respect as much as he would never admit that to himself.

She had been occupying his thoughts all night and even now those thoughts refused to die. Oh well he'll be rid of her at lunch.

But why had the dark lord claimed her death, if the mind-behind-the-trio Granger had been alive all this time?

Perhaps the Dark Lord had been mistaken, but that wasn't an option was it?

Oh well, he'll find out at lunch.

Lunch time at the Malfoy residence

Being at the end of a large mansion, the only way Hermione could find out if their 'guest' had arrived was if someone informed the kitchen which was of course done by Draco Malfoy.

Hermione finished a batch of washing up, with her hands soaked to her elbows and stinging slightly from all the washing up liquid and started stacking them on the tall shelves. She had to stand on her tip toes and balance the glassware carefully so as to 'not be clumsy' and stack them in order. The task was proving harder done than said and what didn't help even more was the fact that when Hermione stacked one set and turned to pick up another she was met with the sneeringly amused face of Draco Malfoy.

Had he been standing there for long? She wondered.

He didn't say anything as their gazes met and Hermione pulled away first. For once she wasn't going deliberately fall into a further pit than the one she was already doomed to.

Why wasn't he saying anything? She was getting agitated and uncomfortable. She didn't like him just staring at her with no words and it annoyed her and made her even more anxious which probably showed in her body language because when she next looked in his direction his smirk had widened.

Unable to take it any longer she turned her fiery glare on him.

"If you have something to say Malfoy get it over with"

"What makes you think I came to the kitchen to say anything to you"

Good point. She went back to her work and after a few dreadful moments his taunting voice spoke up again to the kitchen in general and yet when she looked up his gaze was fixed on her alone.

"Our guest has arrived. Lunch is expected to be served by the two mudbloods in an hour"

Hermione couldn't resist this. She was going to be tortured anyway so why hold back. A cornered cat scratches even more fierily than one in an open field. And Hermione was cornered. So she bit back.

"I'd have thought us 'mudbloods' wouldn't be a pleasing sight for Voldermort" The name, as always brought a collective gasp but perhaps the gasp was in this instant more a result of her audacity.

Draco looked at her, unaffected by her response, one single brow arched. "You really do have a death wish don't you Granger? Or are you just plain stupid?" He sounded as if they were having a pleasant conversation.

That was not the response Hermione expected at all. She thought he would fire out. Strike at her even.

"Sure. Being tortured to death at the hands of an infinite Asshole thanks to a cocky heartless bastard has always been my wish" She replied smiling back sweetly.

"Know-it-all-goody-two-shoes is actually swearing? Looks like fear of the dark Lord is really getting to the mudblood in you huh?"

She stacked the second set of glassware in the shelf, careful not to drop any.

"You are too afraid to even utter his name and you call me a coward? He's your 'dark Lord'. To me he's just Tom Marvolo Riddle...Voldermort. To you he's a big bully that scared the shit out of you so badly"

"Just Tom Marvolo Riddle?" He took a few steps closer to her, leaning against the shelf cupboard casually. His actions were unfamiliar and unusual to everyone else in the house because Draco Malfoy never ever looked at a mudblood for more than necessary let alone spend so much time conversing (even in the form of insults) with them. It was intriguing why he would actually take the time to talk to her.

"Do you utter his name because of your bravery? Honestly Granger? Or perhaps its because it gives you a sense of bravery?" Hermione's heart thudded against her chest as she carefully picked up some more of the dishes and he brought his face closer to her ears, so close she could feel his breath on her neck.

"Or perhaps it's to veil the coward who wasn't there to help her best friends in their most needed time. The cowardly, disloyal mudblood who ran away instead of fighting this 'just' Tom Marvolo Riddle" Only she could hear him. His words were a whisper of menace and his face so close to hers sent chills down her spine.

Chills of disgust at being so close to Draco Malfoy , as she told herself.

She didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything and he knew it. That always got to her. That little point made her guilt ridden and completely defeated.

He moved his face away from her. She didn't comment and tried to block away the tears that gathered in her eyes and instead concentrated on her 'job'.

A few moments passed with no noise other than the typical hustle and bustle of the kitchen. Maybe he was gone. Hermione looked in the direction that he had stood earlier and found his still standing their eyeing her with a curious look. No sneer. But as soon as her eyes met his the taunting looks returned.

"Still no biting comeback Granger? I'm waiting"

She glared at him. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd gotten to her with his earlier comment.

"No Malfoy, I don't see a point in wasting what could be my last little bit of time left talking to a ferrate with the brain span of a tea spoon"

"Took you long enough to establish that sentence though didn't it Granger. Fear of death seems to be making you slower than Weasly was"

Again he was stabbing her with the knife of guilt. Guilt over her friends' deaths. Reminding her that it was her fault.

"And you seem to be keen on conversing with me, slow as I am. Why Malfoy don't get any other company? Crab and Goyal made fine companionship for you as I recall. They were too fast for you to follow perhaps"

It was a childish comeback and perhaps anyone listening who didn't know the two 'companions' of Draco Malfoy wouldn't understand. But it was a commonly known fact at Hogwarts that if Crab and Goyal got any slower time would travel backwards.

She noted a tick starting in his jaw. Not so composed afterall Draco Malfoy. She was getting to him slightly.

He opened his mouth to say something, when a woman's voice interrupted him.

"Draco, there you are" /b Narcissa Malfoy was striding down the hallway dressed in an elegant black dress, her blonde hair pulled back into an stylish bun. b "What on earth are you doing in the kitchens ..." If she wasn't Draco Malfoy's mother Hermione could've called her beautiful. She could certainly see the resemblance between mother and son. b "It wasn't very polite of you at all to excuse yourself 'for a minute' and take such a long time. Keeping the dark Lord waiting isn't very wise" There was an undertone to her voice that for some strange reason made Hermione think twice about Narcissa's 'loyalty' to the dark Lord. Her tone seemed to warn Draco of something rather than reprimand him for being 'impolite'.

"I just came to inform the mudbloods that they are to serve lunch mother and I was only gone for a few minutes" Draco replied shrugging off his mothers warning and with one last glance in Hermione's direction he strode off disappearing down the hall.

Narcissa Malfoy stood there for just a few minutes her eyes fixed on Hermione as If she knew what Draco was really doing in the kitchens. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.

"Dinner will be expected the usual time, served as Draco Instructed, by you two. Understood?"

It was Raven who replied. "Yes Ma'am"

As soon as she was out of site, the dark haired girl turned to Hermione.

"Draco Malfoy seems to have gotten one thing right. You certainly seem to have a death wish" She hissed at Hermione.

/ "Wha.." But she was cut off by Raven.

"What were you thinking for god sake. Lipping off like that. Seriously Jane…or Hermione or whatever" – she paused for a minute, her tone softening - " is there nothing...god get you out...He's not going to kill you, you know if that's what you want. I know first hand their methods Hermione Please don't mouth at them "

Hermione reached out and hugged her friend.

"Don't worry Rave, I have no death wish and if I have any way to get away from them I swear to you I will"

In her heart she knew there was no way of survival but she wanted to reassure Raven who, as tough as she wanted to be, seemed to be in the verge of breaking down.

But what actually happened at lunch was the most unexpected thing of all.

Hermione took a deep breath as she went into the dining hall with its magnificent table, dimmed candle light and over load of food all of which were carefully prepared and tasted by a house elf to ensure it was not poisoned.

She was met with the most hated sight of all. Voldermort. She froze at the door. She expected him. But she wasn't ready enough to face him. Not strong enough,

The man who had killed her family; her friends; Harry – Ronald – The Weaslys. She could almost hear her mothers screams when she was being tortured to death by the very man sitting with his back turned to her. The countless lives this man had taken in the name of power. The countless lives he had destroyed. Children he had tortured mercilessly. Killing, hurting and demeaning people just because they didn't have the same blood. Just because they weren't his idea of the 'Aryan' race.

Gone. Everyone and everything she cared for was gone for ever. And it was all because of this man. This one man.

A wave of sorrow for her friends engulfed her, bringing stinging tears to her eyes. The tears of sorrow were suddenly turning to lava of anger boiling up inside her. She felt as if she was about to explode. The emotions played over her face and she shut her eyes and opened them once more and met with...

Blue eyes that she had gotten accustomed to meeting at every bad turn the last couple of days.

She steadied herself. She wouldn't give anyone, least of all Draco Malfoy, the satisfaction of getting to her.

He sat at the head of the table with his back to her. Draco was at the other end facing him and her and Narcissa sat in between them. There was not much talk. Draco glanced her once and gave a slight smirk as if to say 'your time is almost up'.

He held out his wine glass indicating her to pour the blood red vintage wine which brought her to stand right in front of Voldermort.

Would he realize that this was the supposedly dead friend of his enemy? Was it Draco's intension to bring her into this position where she was in full view of the man she hated more than Draco Malfoy? She bent her hear head trying her best to hide her face, which didn't go unnoticed by Draco. Her hands were shaky as they poured the wine carefully into his glass and in the middle of it...

Draco cleared his through and carefully began to say something.

"My Lord, I have some news that might interest you" He started

She almost let go of the bottle. But then held on tightly. The bottle would shatter with the pressure of her fingers on them any longer.

'He's going to tell him' Hermione thought, her heart beginning to thump against her chest so loudly.

She moved towards Narcissa Malfoy to serve her empty glass.

"news that might interest me? Do go on" His voice was so cold it made her shiver involuntarily.

"The mudblood here My Lord…" Draco drawled slowly. She could feel his penetrating gaze on her and suddenly she was scared.

Her mind replayed the pain she had seen. To feel them. To be handed to your worse nightmare.

Her hands tightened around the delicate neck of the bottle without realizing it and suddenly b i the noise of shattering glass broke the stillness of the dining room and she gasped and a flash of pain surged through her as the glass cut into her soft skin.

Suddenly all eyes were on her. Red slits of Voldermort.

She heard Narcissa clean up the mess with the use of a wand.

Hermione stood frozen, her hands full of blood, there was still glass cutting into her flesh and yet she didn't move.

"She will be punished my lord. Stupid clumsy creature" Narcissa Malfoy hissed. "Get out of our sight girl. Bring another bottle of wine" The command shook her back to life. And she backed out of the dinning room.

Why hadn't Voldermort uttered a word. She knew the answer. He considered himself too high to even speak to a muggle born.

When she did get back with a bottle of wine (why they didn't use magic to summon it, she had no idea. Perhaps it was merely to work the muggeles) with a cloth wrapped hastily around her fingers she set the bottle on the table and backed off.

The atmosphere had somewhat changed. There was an air of uncomfortable-ness in the room that hadn't been there before. Had Draco revealed her? What was going on.

"You were saying something about the mudblood" Voldermorts eyes flickered in her direction as he prompted Draco.

"Yes My Lord, I was about to say that she's..". – he paused and cleared his throat then continued. Hermione's heart was racing beyond belief and she leant against the wall, clutching her injured hand. The pain of that didn't matter. She was about to get worst in a while.

She raised her eyes towards Malfoy, biting her bottom lip expectantly 'get it over with' was that what she wanted. He looked as stoic as always. She looked away from his cold face returning her burning gaze to the floor once again waiting for the blow to come.

"I was about to express my doubts about whether it would be safe to discuss our matters tonight with the mudblood here my Lord "

Too shocked to move, Hermione's eyes widened, gob smacked. What the hell was going on? Daring to look up she caught Draco Malfoys gaze, staring lazily at her. Why hadn't he given her away? She tried to read some emotion into his face but it remained as stoic and stone cold as ever.

"Ah yes, but there is hardly anything it can do while living in the Malfoy household is there?" Voldermorts reply made his electrifying gaze turn their attention back towards his guest.

"But perhaps you are right draco…it is better advised to avoid any form of...eh betrayal" the way he said it , the way he stressed the word 'betrayal', made Hermione turn to Voldermort herself. His red slits were fixed on Draco studiously. Did he know something? Was he suspecting Draco?! This was interesting.

She turned to look at Draco for any sign...any clue. But there was nothing. He took it all in a stride and with his usual cool demeanor.

"Of course my Lord, betrayal is only likely, where illusion of loyalty is portrayed. Mudbloods don't show loyalty, illusional or otherwise"

Voldermort gave what could be called a satisfied nod. Draco's reply seemed to please him.

"Well said Draco, and perhaps the mudblood should be sent elsewhere while we discuss any proceedings on your...mission"

Narcissa turned to Hermione, indicating for her to leave.

And Hermione forced herself to move, with one last quick look towards Draco. He was looking right at her, thoughtfully. The first sign of any expression she'd seen that evening. What was he thinking? She wondered as she backed out of the room.

But the question that burned in her mind was 'why?'. Why on Merlin's name had Draco Malfoy kept her a secret? Did he just want to daunt her for longer first? Or...or what? Why? She couldn't really think of anything else. But for the moment she supposed she could be safe.