"Your ineptitude worries me more and more every day, Draco," Lucius said coolly as he held a tumbler of brandy in one hand and looked over his son with utmost disappointment and hatred.
"I just didn't know what I was thinking," The boy said softly, his eyes darting to the door of the library in a hope the doors would burst open bringing a distraction and he could get away from the tongue lashing he was on the receiving end of.
"That's the problem, Draco. You don't fucking think," Lucius's voice cold and angry, stormy grey eyes portraying the anger bubbling deep in the depths of his being. Fucking Severus and a Mudblood, his only son, the only being to take forth the Malfoy name and carry on with it was now bound to the two people furthest from his ideologies on Pureblood marriage and breeding.
"There is only one option here, Draco, you know that, don't you?" Draco nodded in response, his cold, grey eyes he had inherited from his father sad and despondent.
"We have to kill the Mudblood, and we have to kill Severus."
And just on cue, as if Lucius had written the script himself Severus burst forth through the doors causing Draco to jump slightly at the unexpected interruption.
"Good luck killing me, you prick. You don't have it in you and I am your only ticket out of this fucking mess we have all dug ourselves into and if you as much as harm a hair on the girl's head you will have me to deal- I mean you will have the Dark Lord to deal with." His hair still damp from the shower he had not long ago taken, clung gently to his face like a wayward coal curtain, wrapped in a Gryffindor red dressing gown.
"What's the supposed to mean?" Lucius questioned, a brow raised half-mast in question. What secret was the cunt hiding from him?
"You never know what way this war will go and I have all bases covered for survival, I suggest you stick close to me, even though heaven forbid I show you even a shred of kindness and you will come out trumps in the end, but if you kill me you will be destined to suffer for the rest of your life, and if you kill the girl, I will end you." He said simply and he could see the cogs ticking in Lucius's head. Severus sure did drive a hard bargain.
Severus sat in a leather chair opposite Lucius, resting his hands behind his head he wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, but seeing as Hermione was currently down there with Narcissa for the moment as the elder witch tended and mended the younger one he opted to leave for the moment. He was sympathetic to the girl and what she was going through he had no idea what she was going through and given Narcissa had her fair share is miscarriage's (the reason Draco was an only child) he had opted to seek her out to help Hermione. She had told him she only had limited resources but she would do her best to patch the girl up and get her through this unscathed, even if the child she was expelling was her husbands and Severus had a feeling that may have been the only reason she was, in fact, helping, to ensure she did expel the child of her husband.
-o-o-o-o-
"The girl, Severus…" Voldemort rasped huskily as he paced the length of the room he spent almost every waking hour in, usually alone with his thoughts but more often than not in the company of one of his comrades be it barking orders at them or torturing them, no one was immune from his wrath, not even his most devout.
"Yes?" He questioned, watching the Lord pace up and down like a caged tiger slowly going insane.
"She might not produce a child like I had hoped…" He trailed off and Severus knew he meant the fact she had an ectopic pregnancy.
"My lord it was one child, only one. There are plenty more opportunities for me to impregnate the girl and let her produce the child you so desperately seek."
"And what if she doesn't, Severus? He stopped pacing, his eyes full of rage despite his voice being cool and even.
"Then we cross that bridge when we get to it," Severus said stoically although internally he was in a panic as his stomach churned at the possible outcome of her not producing a child. He wouldn't hesitate to kill the girl if she were of little to no use to him.
"That's the problem with you all, Severus. You have piss poor planning and get sub-par results. I am a planner and I am a thinker and that is why I reign far more superior and why my success far outweighs that of many others. I can see a problem before it arises and I have a solution before it manifests into something exponential. " His pacing resumed only his steps were heavier and angrier than prior.
"What do you suggest then?" Severus asked, curiously.
"Take her and Draco with you…" He trailed off but Severus knew exactly what he meant and what he had to do.
"My Lord… The girl she is only recovering now she isn't up to this."
"I fucking care not for what the Mudblood bitch is or isn't up to. Take her, and if she doesn't fulfill the task than I will kill her. She needs to show and prove where her true allegiance lies. We have been more than patient and accommodating to such a filthy little bitch, the least she can do is repay us for the kindness we have afforded her."
"My Lord… She has been here a few weeks, her allegiance couldn't have been swayed in such a short time."
Voldemort's eyes flashed red with anger, how dare he fucking question him. "Don't make excuses for the little slut, Severus. I find you doing so more so than not in an indirect roundabout way. I'm not totally inept, Severus. Don't tell me you actually like the girl?"
He snorted. "I do not like the bitch and I never will. She merely warms my bed and is an outlet for my primal, male urges."
"If you tell yourself that, you might start to believe it," Voldemort said softly as he continued to pace the room in a bid to release the pent-up energy and anger he was harboring within his soul. Being stuck in one house for so long was enough to send even the most hardened crazed man spare. And add to that he had a suspicion his most devout and his most trusted (after his beloved Bella) was hiding something but the cunt was too smart to let his guard down so he could mind rape him made him even angrier.
-o-o-o-o-
"Put these on," Severus said solemnly, throwing a set of Death Eater robes and mask with intricate silverwork onto the bed where Hermione lay.
She looked incredulously at them, her heart dropping to her feet, what fresh hell was she going to be subject to now?
"What? No!"
"You have no choice in the matter; the Dark Lord wishes to see if you are worthy of being thrust within our ranks… He worries after the loss of your spawn that you may not be the worthy breeder he had anticipated and needs a backup plan for you," He said nonchalantly as if exchanging pleasantries with her. His back was turned rummaging around his closet for his own robes.
"That's bullshit!" She leaped from the bed, seething in anger, fists clenched with so much force her knuckles were white and for a moment the dull aching of her uterus that was only just getting over expelling Lucius's child was all but forgotten.
"I agree fully with you. Taking you out to kill is the last thing on my list of fun things to do in Britain, but here we are." He began unbuttoning his frock coat with finesse and grace, each white finger meticulously pushing the button from its hole until the entire length was now free and open.
"Kill?" Her face turned a ghostly shade of white sitting down shakily on the bed before she fell down involuntarily.
"Indeed. He seems to think that if you kill you are worthy of being thrust one step closer to taking the mark…"
"The mark?" She blanched as the acidic taste of bile burned her tongue as it rose from the deepest part of her stomach which had now begun to twist and swirl with worry and dread.
"Well, you can't be a Death Eater without it, Hermione." Her name almost rolled off his tongue a little too easily for his liking. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to push the bitch against the wall and assault her lips with his own and force his tongue deep down her throat. This whole trying to keep his hands to himself while she was healing was a fucking injustice and a testament to his patience.
She was the whitest shade of white he had ever seen on a living, breathing person, the shade was often reserved for the dearly departed and he had to check to see if her chest was in fact rising and falling with each breath she took to ensure he hadn't had a heart attack and died on the spot on his watch.
He began to pull on the thick, heavy robes, which were much too hot for this time of year. They were itchy and cumbersome and he wished he could just forgo wearing them all the time.
He watched her out of the corner of his eyes as she hesitantly fingered the robes gingerly as if expecting them to bite her, as if they were cursed and should she put them, on they would tighten around her body and expel all the air from her lungs and she would die.
Gently she grasped the heavy black material in her delicate fingers and with trepidation threw them over her head and shimmied them down into place. Bile rose once again, she wasn't a Death Eater and she didn't want to be one.
She stood as the black material cascaded down her legs before the hem stopped an inch from the floor. Clutching the mask she held it tightly staring at it apprehensively as if wishing it would kill her now and she would be free from the clutches of hell she currently resided in.
"I almost forgot," Severus spoke softly pulling her from her reverie. Fishing around in his robes he produced her wand and held it out to her to take. She grabbed it lightning fast and she could feel the magic thrum through her. Like two old friends reunited after years of missing one another and nothing had changed.
"Did Draco have to kill to show he was worthy of entering the ranks?" She asked, distractedly, running her fingers gently over the wooden shaft of her long, lost friend.
"No, but he has to tonight…" He said sadly, he didn't want to drag in essence two children along with him and corrupt them beyond measure, not in this way. Sure, he wanted to corrupt Hermione but he wanted to Drive her mad and have her desire to kill, not expect her to kill and drive her mad with the guilt.
"Who are we-"
"Killing?" He finished her sentence.
"Muggles," He whispered, sadly. He hated killing, he hated destroying families and he hated the guilt that gnawed at him as they pleaded with him to spare their life. The pleading in their eyes was soul destroying, especially the children who had fear plastered upon their faces and the pungent smell of urine lingered in the air as they became incontinent with fear. He had killed more children than he cared to ever reflect. He had killed so many people he had long surpassed the hesitation to kill and he afforded them death quick and swiftly.
He was a terrible man and a terrible person. The fact he could sleep soundly every night knowing how many lives he had taken amazed even him. He was immune to doing it now but she wasn't and he knew those cracks that were starting to appear would soon be wide open and raw.
He placed his mask over his face, shielding the sad expression that crossed his features and she did the same. This was it, tonight was the night he would corrupt and destroy Hermione Granger.
A/N: Gah, again, sorry for the length between updates. I've been flat out working and looking after my son and partner, life sucks and gets in the way. I wish I could get paid to write as a full-time job. If only.