A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related. I also don't own the other work mentioned in this chapter.

Sorry about the slight lateness. This was ready to post last night, but the website wasn't working for me. Happy reading!


-Hermione-

As I gathered my materials in the shadier parts of Knockturn Alley, I found myself feeling guiltily about not telling Draco what was going on. It was technically his business now, but I didn't know if he would understand that this was my revenge and that I needed to do it alone. Steeling myself against my worries, I decided to tell him. I'd have to make him swear not to intervene in any way, maybe even make an unbreakable vow, but regardless he deserved to know. I pondered how I would tell him as I collected the last of the supplies I would need, quickly vanishing the disturbingly grotesque spiders to my own room.

I arrived back in the Manor in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. I had been gone for several hours, and I was sure he was wondering where I'd gone off to. He knew I was fine through the bond, but he had no idea what I was up to. Ron's life would be snuffed out before sunrise and I had to get this little confession off of my chest before it got too late to accomplish that goal.

He was waiting for me in my room when I got there, staring questioningly at the spiders I'd sent in. They were thrashing against the side of their cage violently, attempting to attack one another and Draco. I quickly covered them with a sheet, effectively directing his questioning gaze at me.

"Do you have something to share, Hermione?" He asked curiously.

"Yes, actually," I said clearing my throat. "But first, you need to promise me something."

"…Okay. I can't promise to promise you something unless I know what the promise is about," he said quickly. I sighed before answering. It was best to just get it over with.

"Ronald is here. In the dungeons," his eyes darkened almost immediately. He started to stand. "Stop!"

"Why?" He hissed dangerously.

"Promise me you won't go to him. Promise me that you'll let me handle him on my own," I demanded.

"But…"

"No buts. I need to do it. He deserves it…and I deserve it. I need retribution and I can only have it if I do this alone," he looked like he was going to say something but decided to stay silent.

"It's not like he can overpower me anymore. Even if I somehow lost my wand and he was able to overpower me physically, I still have my wandless…and our connection." He sighed angrily as he ran his hands through his hair, and I was glad he still didn't know I could block him out if I really wanted to.

"I don't like it."

"It doesn't matter if you like it," I stated plainly. "I will restrain you if I need to," I added for effect. He chuckled.

"Don't threaten me with a good time, love. I'm no Hufflepuff Granger. I understand your need for revenge. Are you certain that you'll be okay around him?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes, but I'm not so certain that he'll be okay around me," I said diabolically. He glanced at the covered cage in the corner.

"Those are for him?"

"Of course. He has an uncontrollable fear of spiders. I had an associate mutate those beauties there to suit my purposes," I revealed. He nodded in appreciation.

"When?"

"As soon as I leave this room. Everything else is set up so I can have instant access. I'll be back by morning," I explained. He nodded, but didn't look surprised.

"I suppose I'll wait here then," he conceded grumpily. I smiled excitedly as I kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed as I ran out of the room ignoring his grumbling. I had a weasel to torture.


I walked to the cell at the far end of the dungeon, knowing that was where he would be. He was a powerful wizard, but not powerful enough. And stupid. He couldn't escape without Harry's help, but this time Harry was on my side, and Ron was doomed. I grinned as I pushed through the door.

My attention moved directly to the shackles on the wall, but they were empty. I was extremely confused for a moment. And then something hit me from behind, making everything go black.


I woke up some time later, attached to the shackles on the wall where Ronald was supposed to be. I felt panic…and desperation…but I knew Draco couldn't feel it. I disabled our connection before I walked in the room. He felt whatever he was feeling and only contentedness from me. I was trapped and that psycho was in the room with me. I slowly opened my eyes, ignoring the throbbing on the side of my head.

He was there, sitting on an old stool directly in front of me. He immediately noticed that I was awake and stood.

"Hermione!"

"How did you get out of the shackles?" I demanded.

"Ah, ah, ah. We'll not be discussing that now. Let's just say I've made a friend."

"You bastard! Let me down now," I hissed.

"I don't think so," he said as he stared at my wand lying on the floor. "The most curious thing happened when I touched that," he said pointing down.

"Isn't that interesting? You can't wield it. Only I can you fucking idiot. Let me down!" I nearly screamed as panic starting overtaking my senses. There was something I was forgetting, but the panic was making it harder to focus on anything but the leer he was sending in my direction. I froze as he entered my personal space. I wished that my arms and legs weren't bound. I felt vulnerable and afraid in a way that I hadn't felt in a while. I stayed silent.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up, Sleeping Beauty," he said seductively. I was terrified, but he continued.

"The dark side has done some good for you it seems," he said as he fingered a curl by my face. "Although I can't say that I like the new look as much as I liked the old one." He got closer to me but still kept his hands to himself.

"You smell exactly the same," he said as he leaned in close to my neck and inhaled. I fought back the tears with all of my might. He stayed that way for a few minutes, every second feeling like an hour to me. I was completely frozen…at his mercy. He grabbed my waist roughly, his hands drifting up to grab at my chest as he forced his body against mine. I couldn't stop the tears anymore.

"I'm quite glad that you've never had children, my love. Your figure is too perfect to ruin with childbirth," he growled into my neck. My world stood still as something broke in me.

He had the gall to mock the loss of my child. My baby. So casually. And he thought he could touch me like this? Like I was his possession? He continued touching me, and I finally realized how stupid I was being.

The fear was gone, replaced with pure rage. He thought he had the upper hand. Hell, I'd thought he had the upper hand. He had no wand, and I had wandless magic. I wanted to smack myself as I started laughing hysterically. He pulled back slightly.

"What the fuck, Hermione? Did that blow to the head rattle your brain?" He demanded. My laughing subsided as his hand connected with my cheek. That was it. No more. I met his eyes.

"Dear Ronald. Please assess this situation for me? I seem to be a little confused about something," I said sweetly. He looked at me like I'd lost it, but started speaking nonetheless.

"We're alone in a cell, presumably in the Malfoy dungeon. No one is close enough to hear us, and I'm quite sure no one will be interrupting for quite some time. You're chained to the wall, and I'm free. You're mine…at my mercy…"

"There," I interrupted him. "That's where I'm confused. I'm yours? At your mercy?" He laughed without humor at my questions.

"Stop playing stupid, Hermione. You know exactly what's going on and what's going to happen from here," he said as he grasped my chest roughly again. I ignored the pain.

"On the contrary Weasley. You were never really in control," I whispered in his ear as I unlocked my shackles without my wand. He was stunned, and in the next second he couldn't have moved if he wanted to. I'd frozen him in place. Only his eyes moved as I approached him.

"You will never be touching me again," I informed him. "You hurt me…you k-killed my child," I hissed, "and you will pay dearly," I finally managed. I stared into his eyes briefly, penetrating his mind to find the identity of the traitor. Parkinson. Now that that was out of the way, I had free reign.

I could practically feel his rage and anxiety as I circled him like any lioness would circle her prey. He wasn't worried for his life, which proved how stupid he really was.

I flicked my wrist in his plain sight and a long, flat table appeared behind me. It was made completely of stone and well suited to what I planned to do. I'd thought about this for endless hours, and finally decided what I would do. It was something similar to the muggle novel 1984 by George Orwell. He called it Room 101—a torture chamber where one was forced into their worst nightmare. Except that main character was afraid of rats. I was switching it up, but it was basically the same concept. I'd break him before I killed him…like he'd broken me before I'd been accepted by the Death Eaters. His eyes followed the motion of my fingers as I snapped and a covered cage appeared near my feet. There was scuffling inside, but he couldn't tell what it was.

I could see the fear creeping into his eyes as he examined the situation and realized that every bit of magic I'd done was wandless and wordless. I silently thanked the necklace my grandmother had left me. I may not have been able to accomplish this so seamlessly without it.

"So Ronald, as you can see, you are at my mercy. And you will be for the rest of your short life," I said as I freed his voice. He seemed lost for words, but finally stuttered out:

"What are you doing?"

"Preparing the room for our games," I said gleefully as I forced him to move towards the table. He climbed up and laid down on it without protest, not that my magic was giving him much of a choice. Invisible ropes bound him to his place, and I freed him from his paralysis. He immediately started struggling against his bonds.

"Your struggling is futile, but feel free to tire yourself out," I said nonchalantly as I silenced him again. I would have thought I'd be nervous, but instead I was more determined to make him pay than ever. Maybe it made me a bad person, maybe it made me evil, but maybe I didn't care in that moment. He made me that way, and I would let that part of myself die with him.

"Let me explain what's going to happen. In that cage over there is a treat for you. You'll crack, and I'll kill you. Not directly, but it will be because of my actions. It will not be fast and it will not be painless. You will not leave this room alive," I whispered. I approached the covered cage and tore away the sheet. He shrieked when he saw the spiders inside.

"These beauties are just for you. I had them crafted especially for this occasion. Very expensive, but worth every galleon. They're man-eating, you see. They're constantly ravenous and have the strength to gnaw through anything but the constraints made specifically for them. They're also loyal to me, as per my request. A bit of my blood was used in their mutation," I said as I pulled one out of the cage. It quickly scuttled up my arm, and I examined it more closely. It was black. Black and purple with aqua eyes. Its scare factor was only increased by its size, which nearly matched that of the rats used in 1984. I smiled gently at it, comforted greatly at my confidence that it couldn't hurt me.

"They aren't venomous, but they are vicious. As soon as they are allowed to be in contact with one another without prey, they kill each other. But there's a catch," I giggled, "They multiply. For each one that dies, two take its place," I ended gleefully. He was hyperventilating and thrashing violently at the sight of the arachnid on my shoulder.

"Oh, do calm down. I can't have you passing out," I said as I scooped up my wand, the spider still clinging to my shirt. "I call them Pishachas, after the Hindu demon. He was made out to be quite the flesh-eater," I chuckled. I quickly performed a spell to keep him awake and conscious throughout the entire experience. I waved my wand again and the contraption I built myself hovered above his body. It looked like a cage, and in a way it was. There were two main portions, and there wasn't enough space between any of the bars for the Pishachas to escape. One trapped his whole body and trap doors divided it into sections. The second layer consisted of two areas. One was smaller and above where his face would be, the other was open all the way down to his feet. The second layer was merely meant to scare Ronald and excite the spiders. It looked sort of like a coffin, but the bars allowed me to see through it completely. The Pishachas went in the compartment above his face first, and the trapdoor to the rest of the top layer would be closed. Once I deemed it time, I would open the first trap door. The Pishachas would quickly figure out that there was an opening to his feet, and they would take it without hesitation, multiplying as they moved. Once I was satisfied, I would open the next trap door, giving them access to his lower legs, then his thighs, and so on and so forth until they reached his chest. The next trapdoor revealed his chest, neck, and head, and at that point he would die. I would watch the whole thing even if it grew to be too much. I needed to do it, and I would.

[There's a link on my profile to a super basic image of what I imagined the device above to be. Feel free to make fun of my drawing...after all, I did it on MS Paint. If there are problems with the link or anything, please let me know.]


A/N: Thanks to MacaqueAttack713, anidot90, ashlidare, SheMalfoy13, shaymars, MissMaryLiz, Vamsprite, Grimke, Guah Guah, DarkFairy8605, LetTheRiverRun, nathaliie, Ashley Ayoub, the-hooded-figure2, Akra 23, madisonwaaalsh, kelliewhitlocktownsend23, and Twizard2013 for reviewing. Everyone who followed/favorited is awesome too.

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