A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

I hope you all a happy holiday.

This chapter contains torture (Muahahaha!). Happy reading!

-Harry-

Once Lucius left, I sat alone in the posh room he'd placed me in. A little girly for my taste, but I didn't plan to be there for very long. I knew I'd be first priority when Voldemort arrived, and in all honesty, I was looking forward to it. I already had proof that the Death Eaters weren't what I thought they were. If they had been the evil beings I was lead to believe they were, Lucius would have been much worse…possibly even would have killed me on sight. I had to admit to myself that he was still a jerk and admirably cold, but he wasn't what I had been expecting at all. I was shocked when he offered to let me help chain Ron up, but agreed nonetheless. If I could cause Ron pain, I was all in, and I seemed to gain some esteem with Lucius when I concurred so easily. It was time I thought about Ginny and the rest of the people I'd considered family for so long, but I couldn't bring myself to do it just yet, so I did my best to silence my thoughts as I stared at the high ceiling.

-Voldemort-

It was nearly time for bed when I arrived at the Manor. Before I could even reach my room, a house elf appeared before me.

"Master," it bowed.

"Yes," I hissed.

"Master Lucius requests your presence. He says it's very urgent, he does," the elf trembled.

"Very well. You're dismissed." Filthy little creatures. At least Lucius made sure his were somewhat clean. I quickly made my way up to Lucius's favorite study to see what was so urgent that it couldn't wait five minutes.

"You requested my presence," I said as I entered the room. He immediately stood and walked towards me.

"Erm, yes. We have an…issue?" He stuttered.

"Why are you stuttering, and why did you make your statement into a question?" I demanded. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

"My apologies. I honestly don't know how to explain this without you thinking I'm crazy."

"Just tell me."

"Very well. I have Potter in a guestroom. He wants to talk to you," I could feel the shock on my face, but he continued. "He came by earlier today with the Weasley boy in tow, unconscious I might add, and helped me chain him up. I'm sure he means no harm. He's been quiet all day, awaiting your return."

"You're serious?"

"Absolutely." I sighed deeply. I didn't know how Potter was still alive if he was this stupid.

"I assume he brought Weasley because he knows what happened?"

"Yes. I searched the Weasley's mind. Quite sick."

"I suppose I'm obligated to speak to him then. I wonder if he realizes that I'll just kill him before he leaves. We're about to win the war because Potter is handing it to us."

"I asked him something along those lines, and he said that he expects to leave just the way he came in. He apparently has some questions. I have a feeling that it has something to do with what Hermione forced him to see."

"Forced him to see?"

"When he entered her mind, she held him there despite his struggles. She forced him to watch."

"Clever girl," I hummed.

"My thoughts exactly." We both sat silently for a few moments.

"Where is he?"

"This way," he said, leading me out of the room.

We quickly reached the guestroom he'd put Potter in earlier in the day. The boy was sleeping. I approached him with a snort and clapped so he'd wake. He shot straight up immediately, holding his scar. Once he realized where he was, he focused his attention on me, still rubbing his scar. I knew it caused him pain, and it was all I could do to not smirk. It would be so easy to kill him. He was sitting there, half-asleep, and with his guard down. Hermione's feelings in this situation didn't matter. It was either him or me, and I definitely didn't plan on letting him kill me. Despite the severe urge I had to finish him, I figured I needed hear what he had to say.

"You have questions?" I asked curiously. His eyes flashed to Lucius.

"I'd rather him not be in here." I raised my brow at his demand, but nodded at Lucius anyways. Once he was gone, I spoke again.

"Go ahead then." He nodded at the opening I was giving him.

"Is what Hermione showed me the truth? I suppose I need to hear it from you."

"That depends on what you're referring to. I'm guessing that everything she showed you was the truth, but I guess I could expand if need be."

"The credo of the Death Eaters. Your beliefs."

"What do you already know?"

"I know that Hermione would have never joined you if your purpose was to eradicate all muggle blood, which means that's rubbish. I know your lot isn't as evil as the Order makes you out to be from Lucius's behavior."

"Hermione's choices are irrelevant to this conversation. In all honesty, I don't think it mattered what we believed in as long as we got her away from that freckled monster," I said heatedly but continued. "No, I don't want to kill everything with muggle heritage. I want separation of the two worlds. Muggles have no place here and we have no place with muggles. If a witch or wizard is born to muggles, I want them to make a choice. When that witch or wizard comes of age, I want them to abandon their magic or abandon the muggles. We will die out as a race in just a few generations if the magic in our blood continues to be thinned by muggle influence. I intend to stop that. On the whole 'evil' concept, it really depends who you talk to. Most of them are decent, but you run into a few who are a little…unstable."

"I figured as much. It's just difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that I've been lied to all my life."

"That's the Order for you."

"Where does this leave us?"

"Where indeed." We sat silently for a while until I spoke again.

"What do you want to do?" I asked.

"I want to help you," he said with a sly smirk. I couldn't help but to return it.

"You want to help me. Harry Potter betrays the Order for the Death Eaters. Ha!"

"I'm serious."

"So am I. I realize this is mainly for Hermione's sake, from my end as well as yours. I suppose this makes us allies for the time being?"

"Yes, allies," he nodded holding his hand out for me to shake.

"I never thought I'd see the day. This war isn't even a war anymore, but a massacre," I stated as I shook his hand. He flinched at the temperature of mine, but he didn't comment on the coolness of my skin.

"I fully intend to make the Order pay," he said with a gleam in his eye that gave me no choice but to believe him.

"Very well. I assume you know to keep this a secret? That includes from Hermione. She can't handle this right now. I'll see what I can do about that."

"Like I'd parade this information around in a room full of Order members."

"Well then, if you don't have any more questions, I suppose you're free to go," I said, thinking of how I was determined to kill him before he left this room only minutes ago. "In the mean time, you should probably determine who your friends and enemies truly are."

"See you soon then," he said without emotion as he went to exit the room. He was blocked by Lucius's spell. "Of course," he said as he turned back around to face me. I snapped my fingers and a house elf appeared.

"Take Mr. Potter wherever he wishes to go," I commanded. The house elf nodded quickly, looking to Potter for further instructions.

"12 Grimmauld Place?" He requested and he was gone within seconds.

I sighed once I was alone. And the plot thickens, I thought sarcastically. I needed to find a way to pull Hermione out of her depression soon or the Weasley boy wouldn't be alive long enough for her to have her revenge. She needed to know what was going on, and she had every right to, as a member of the inner circle, but it could possibly break her. Not that she wouldn't be happy about it, but it would be overwhelming, and she couldn't take overwhelming in her state of mind. Draco also needed to know about what was going on, and I needed him to know what happened to Hermione when she was with Weasley. It would be best if she told him, but it would be challenging to get her to do so willingly. I needed to think, and there was no better way to achieve that than letting off some steam. With that in mind, I made my way down the dungeons.

I knew where Lucius would put him, so finding him was no trouble. He was sleeping uncomfortably against the wall.

"Praestrangulo (smother)" I muttered. The sound of the oxygen being pulled from his lungs was discernible for a second, and then all was silent. He started squirming uncomfortably in his sleep. Within a few seconds, he was awake and attempting to pull air into his lungs. I chuckled at his futile efforts, watching his face change shades and his eyes roll back into his skull. I released him from the spell before he lost consciousness, as that would have been counterproductive. He panted harshly when I allowed him to breathe.

"Oh, you're awake," I said cheerily.

"I am now you sick bastard," he seethed as he tried to spit on me.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that any way to act when you're chained to a wall and at someone's mercy? I think not." He sobered slightly at the reminder, and I continued. "I'm sure you don't know this, but you've hurt someone who's dear to me. My only remaining family member to be precise," I hissed with narrowed eyes.

"As if anyone could ever be dear to a snake," he mumbled. "Who?" Ignoring his comment about my inability to hold things dear, I answered.

"Think about it; I'm sure you can figure it out." He thought for a moment.

"Well, considering I'm here and the last place I was, I was with Harry, you must have found Grimmauld or he handed me over. As the first seems unlikely, it must be the second, but that still doesn't answer the question of the family member you're referring to."

"Stupid boy. You know her as Hermione Granger."

"You lie!" He screamed. "She's a Mudblood. She's mine." He started panting again, losing any measure of composure he'd been clinging to.

"That's where you're wrong. Her name is not truly Hermione Granger," I said, not intending to divulge any further information to this worthless piece of rubbish. He made to reply, but before he could get a word out, I Crucioed him. It was times like these I was glad the dungeons were sound proof. It wouldn't do for Hermione to hear him scream, but the noise he was making was like music to my ears. I let off after a while so he could recuperate. It wouldn't do any good to force him into madness.

His blood-shot eyes turned to mine shortly after the spell stopped, and I could see the sweat dripping from his disgusting form.

"You're going to kill me?" He asked with no emotion. He wasn't afraid of me.

"Merlin no," I said with my previous cheer returning. "I'm going to save you for her. She has some lovely plans, I assure you. I got to see them for myself when she first came to the Manor. Very inventive." He looked shaken at that and I almost full-out laughed at him. He was afraid of her, but not me.

"You're afraid of her?" I asked sarcastically.

"If I was afraid of anyone, it would be her," he admitted shamelessly. "She's crazy when unrestrained. She has to be controlled, and I'm the only one who can do it," he stated confidently.

"You're a fool," I grinned. "She needs no one to control her. She's powerful. More than you, more than Potter, more than even me if I'm correct, which I always am. She will tear you to shreds," I said, my grin turning into a full smile. He seemed alarmed by my confidence, and rightly so. I knew what she was planning to do to him, and it almost made me feel sorry for him. Muggle books could be interesting after all, I thought.

"Then why are you here?" He hissed.

"To cause you pain. I'm sure I won't be your only visitor. Once word that you're here gets out to the few people who know what you did to Hermione, I'll have to give them direct orders to stop them from killing you," I said, thinking of another fun spell to use on him before I took my leave for the night. Thinking of a fantastic one, I waved my wand once again.

"Lente detractaque pelle cute, et ponunt eam rursus (slowly flay the skin, and put it back again)." His scream was nearly deafening, and the sounds of his teeth gnashing were audible. While the Cruciatus was immensely painful, it was a mental pain and caused no real physical damage, this one did. The victim could feel his or her skin being pulled from their body slowly, detaching from the skin and muscle with unbearable stabbing and ripping sensations. They were kept fully conscious and aware, and when the spell finally ran its course, the skin snapped back into place like it never happened. Quite gruesome to watch, but the pain it surely caused was worth it.

I knew how I'd force Hermione to tell Draco, which would lead to her depression dissolving. Torture is always mentally stimulating, I thought as I made my way up the stairs.

A/N: Thanks to shaymars, Slytherin Princess 1313, Twizard2013, anidot90, love-them-all10, shrishti. 1701, DustNight25832, Mrs. A. Drake, and Snapesbloodredneko for reviewing. I'd also like to thank everyone who followed/favorited. You're all awesome.

Please leave me your comments/questions/predictions/criticism/anything else in a review? I'm especially interested if anyone has any guesses to the book I was referring to in this chapter (it would be crazy if someone guessed it...and Lily/Ms. Jane Doe, if you give this away I will find you). Thanks for reading!