[The Superior Quality: V i n t a g e]

**BOOK II**

Chapter 9:

"Evil is a dangerous game.

It plays with the head, and it plays with mind.

This is what you get for turning someone,

with a brilliant mind,

Evil."

The fooled Ruler; The Superior, and the Quality

**~¤~**

The festive air lingered around the Hogwarts castle; no one expected the night to ruin in the hands of death itself.

Students, teachers, all ate in joy. Conversing with others, gossiping, having fun; everyone seemed so unaware of what was coming near.

A new air lingered in the hall, a suffocating, deathly rancid kind. The enchanted ceiling flickered as clouds from its highest peak, lowered down, misting the lower atmosphere. Students gasped. Dumbledore was the first to notice the distinct smell around him; he stood up. His eyes formed into livid uneasiness as he readied himself, waiting for the hall door to burst open, revealing his enemy.

As the clouds from above lowered down to the floor, students began to rise curiosity in their voices. A shriek is heard, and the door was bombarded open.

There stood a woman, only in her young age, in velvety maroon dress, exposing areas of her flesh. Her hair swept down her back, flowing back in forth as if moving in unison with an invincible breeze. Her crimson eyes flickered to the white-bearded man across from her, "I wonder why.." she slowly spoke; her voice enticing and intriguing as her dark red lips, "Voldemort is soooo afraid of you? You are nothing but an old, crooked man."

A boy with glasses stood from his spot from a long table adjacent to the walkway down the middle of the hall. He stared at the woman, his eyes in full shock, his face twisted with an unsure expression, "H-Hermione?" he awkwardly asked. Students followed his question with another gasp.

The woman turned to the boy with glasses and gave a smirk; her red eyes narrowing at him like he was prey, "Harry, how nice of you to recognize me. And here I was hoping I could introduce myself.. tsk tsk, you ruined my surprise entrance."

The teachers up front, meanwhile, stood up from their seats and pointed their wands to her. Dumbledore stood still, his eyes fixated at the girl, his wand still in his pocket.

"It's too late," Snape started to say, catching Hermione's eyes, "She has joined him. There's nothing else to do but destroy her."

"Destroy her?!" McGonagall asked aghast, "We cannot do that! She is a student, still. Not to mention a human being!"

Snape raised his eyes at McGonagall, "She is better off dead, Minerva, or all of us will. You cannot heal her, only she can. But do you expect her to if she is under Voldemort's spell?" he watched McGonagall's face turn pale; she shook her head, "We must destroy her." Snape said once again.

"You can't destroy her." Dumbledore spoke out, "She is not so easy."

Hermione's ears perked up, a smile formed her lips, "You've got to give the old man credit for such an intelligent mind." she announced, "If you think I was sent here only to have myself be killed by..." --she gave a disgusted look-- "the likes of all of you, you've got to be fooling yourselves." she shook her head and laughed.

The terrified students watched as the scene slowly started to unfold. It wasn't long until Neville screamed and began to run his way out of the hall, and everyone followed suit with a scream and a dash to safety.

Red eyes followed the movement of the room; Hermione jumped in front of the Great Hall entrance as Neville came close. Hermione looked at the boy with pure annoyance, "Going somewhere? I thought you enjoyed the little party? I only came to make it more interesting, you know."

Sweat dripping down his temples, Neville backed away from her with a yelp. Even at the age of 17, he was still unbelievably cowardly.

"Sit down, Longbottom, or I'll kill you right now." Hermione warned, and quickly the boy made it back to his seat; the others did the same, not wanting to test the evil Hermione's threat.

Smirking, Hermione looked up again to the front, "I'm here for my first mission. Of course, it's for Voldemort... but I decided to not follow his exact orders." Lifting her hand, she snapped a finger. Immedietly, wands from the teachers and students began to make their way to her. Flicking a finger to the ceiling, the wands followed her gesture and struck the floating pumpkins with a thump, sticking themselves in the hallow decorations.

"Voldemort needs me for his little plan." Hermione said sternly, "He can't boss me around whenever he wants... it doesn't go that way." She began to walk closer to the front, her steps striding along the middle rug of the hall. As she neared, the students began to back against the walls nearest them. All except for Harry and Ron; the two was somehow glued to their spots.

She stopped midway and turned to her left, facing Harry and Ron with a pleasing smile, "Come." she beckoned, and in an instant, the two boys walked to her.

"What are you doing?! Leave them be!" McGonagall yelled from her spot.

Hermione ignored her plead, and looked at the boys beside her; their eyes hazed black and empty, "You two are coming with me, understand?" the two nodded, "Good. Wait outside."

As Harry and Ron made their sluggish walk out the hall, Hermione continued her walk to the front until she stood a few feet under Dumbledore's chin. As soon as she stopped, the students began to desperately clamber out. Hermione turned her head slightly and flicked an eye behind her. The door shut, leaving everyone stunned and helpless.

Hermione gave a displeased grunt, "Your students.. are they always this stupid, Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore gazed at her, and kept silent. The other teachers closed in behind him, trying to protect him as soon as the first hit was fired. Hermione noticed this and covered her mouth as she chuckled.

"Oh my! How will I ever be able to kill you now?" she laughed harder, her voice bouncing against the walls. She suddenly stopped her laughing and eyed Dumbledore with hate, "You're lucky I feel peckish."

A large red orb formed around her, and with one quick flash, the room wiped out. Tables were thrown against the walls, students were blowed away to do the same, the floor cracked from the immense power, and the teachers up front suffered large damage as the the ceiling above Hermione collapsed and fell towards them.

Leaving the room in ruins, the atmosphere blurry with dust and mist, the festiveness quiet and silent, Hermione brushed a strand of her hair and met up with the two boys outside the room.

Brushing past them, she motioned them to follow, "Let's go, we've got another party to attend." she drawled. She stopped her thinking as an odd portrait with a beautiful woman gazed at her in grief. She knew of her from somewhere, from a different portrait.

"Your destiny beckoned you," the blond woman told her softly, "and you chose the wrong path. You chose to be the superior, to be the quality... why did you do it?"

Hermione flinched at her words, her eyes momentarily faded to her natural brown ones, but was quickly replaced as red again. She gave a scowl, "A damn portrait you are. Lady Beatrix, was it?" she scoffed, "Mind your tongue, nitwit, I've got no time for you. And while you're gawking now, do tell your headmaster for me that he's just lucky."

Without another look back, another word spoken, Hermione apparated out of the Hogwarts castle with Harry and Ron.

§~*~§

Opening his eyes, they met a ceiling that seemed to swirl pastel hues of gray. He blinked.

Feeling the silk between his fingers, around his face, on his neck, Draco took a deep breath as something nulled the back of his head. Squinting, he focused his eyes to whatever was around him, finding that he was on a large bed, in an unbelievably large room. The walls were lush ocean blue, the corners of each wall were covered with lavender veils, and candles covered with a glass bubble hovered around the room. The whole room was enchanted, he figured, and was dimly lighted from all the candles; their were no windows.

Then he thought what he was doing here...
... there was the feast....
... then a poem....
... blackness...
Hermione...

Shooting up, he sat and scanned the room hastily; she was not there. He remembered it now, he remembered his failure to protect her. Sighing, defeated, Draco slouched back on his bed. Bringing his hands up to his pounding head, he was wondering if all that had happened was just a dream.. no, a nightmare.

He was wrong.

Silky fingertips traced his chest and made their way up to the hands covering his eyes. Letting the hands remove his from his eyes, he smiled at the pair before him, although they were not the ones he had hoped to see.

"Draco, did you sleep well?" her voice carried itself sweetly in the air.

"I did." Draco replied softly, his eyes drifting to her lips, her blood-red lips.

Hermione gave a small smile, her eyes turning soft. She was sitting on top of him, her knees locking his legs, and her hands on either side of his head, "I hope they did not hurt you? They told me your father hit you over the head." her face twisted into a scowl.

As her long hair grazed the sides of his face, Draco gave deep breath, taking in her alluring perfume. He reached a hand to her hair and twirled it with one finger, "I'm not hurt.. really. I just feel a slight pounding, but it's not bad at all." He could see Hermione was not very convinced with his words.

"Your bastard-of-a-father, I'll kill him for putting you under Crucio." she leaned her head to the space between his shoulder and head; her smooth cheeks brushing his, and her warm breath pricking his neck.

Draco brought his arms around her back and sighed. He remembered when his father called Crucio on him, it was extremely painful, yet he only received it because he was trying to stop Voldemort from getting Hermione. Draco looked up at the swirling ceiling through a blue-veil that was now there, "Hermione? Did you kill Professor Dumbledore?" he hesitated to ask, but it was all that he could think of saying, aside from all the things he wanted to know.

Hermione looked up from his shoulder, a playfull smile crept her lips, "To tell you the truth," she whispered, "I didn't." she began to giggle.

Watching her laugh at her answer, Draco eyed her like she was mad, "You were supposed to.. why didn't you?" he asked questionly.

"Because," her face, a scowl again, "Voldemort told me to do it as if I was his servant." Hermione turned her head to the side, "He thinks he can call me to his feet, and kiss his ass, whenever he feels like it. Pfft! He'll find out soon that this operation runs in my terms, not his."

A sudden new aspiration to the 'evil' Hermione came to Draco's mind. She was now cold-hearted, but she was still witty and snappy. This gave him a small lighted hope that maybe, she can still be changed. He gave her a smile, "That's right. He was the one who needed you."

"Exactly." Hermione looked at him proudly. Giving him another soft smile, she leaned closer to his face and lightly kissed his lips. What was a short peck, turned to be an overwhelmed kiss of passion as Draco didn't her to pull away.

Feeling her enticing lips on his, Draco reached the back of her neck and pulled her in closer. He didn't know what came over him, but the fact that his lips were captured briefly by Hermione's, made him want more. He tilted his head to the side, as Hermione tilted hers the other way, deepening the kiss even more.

Her lips parted slightly, letting Draco slip his tongue within. Their tongues began to explore each other's mouths, savoring the bliss, and leaving none unexplored. Their hands did the same; climbing up and down each other's body, skin on skin. Draco raked a hand up her side, catching the opening of her velvet dress; he moved his hands in. Caressing her bare back under the cloth, Draco moved upwards more, his thumb slightly brushing the lacy bra on the side of her breast.

Hermione moaned within his capture of her mouth.

Drowned in the sweet taste of her lips and the lust of his body, Draco pushed away the great fear and responsibility in their kiss. For a minute, he didn't care if it was the real Hermione, or the evil one. He just wanted her with him.

Realizing his own thoughts, Draco pushed himself away, pulling back his hands back on the low of her back, where it was safe from the contact of her smooth, warm flesh; he gazed at the slightly confused girl in front of him, "I-I can't do this." he told her softly, his tone a bit sad.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, her face shifting into anger and frustration.

Draco nodded and started to catch his breath from the long lasting kiss. Without any warning after his gesture, he was thrown to the floor with an unbelievable force.

"First you don't want to pull away, now we get so close and you back out!" he heard her shout from atop the bed. He groaned as his back slammed fiercely to the hard floor. He looked up, sighed, and watched the angry Hermione get off the bed and stomp near the door way, yards away to his right.

"If you're not willing to play, I'll visit Harry instead then." she said stiffly, and crossed her arms.

Draco's eyes bulged; what did she mean play? Sitting up, Draco stopped her from stepping out of the room, "No! Stay here!"

Hermione turned to him, her face lit up with a cocky smirk, "And why, may I ask? You simply said that you couldn't do 'this', so I decided to check if Harry, or maybe Ron, could. Unless.. of course.. you are willing to participate?"

Draco certainly didn't want her putting moves on Harry or Ron, in fact he thought he would kill himself before she was able to do that. Getting up on his feet, he cracked his shoulders and sat down at the edge of the bed, "Fine." he replied, "I'll... play." he couldn't believe what Hermione wanted to do. Not that his body was complaining, but he knew it wasn't the time.

With another un-warned moved, Hermione leapt to him, making him fall back down on the bed, her atop of him once again. She smiled, her face in pure joy, "You're jealous, aren't you?"

Draco furrowed his brows and kept silent.

Hermione held his face with both hands and squeezed his cheeks together, "You don't need to be jealous, my poor lil' Draco." she whispered, her eyes sincere and soft.

Gazing at the pools of dark red in her eyes, Draco pondered for minute if 'this' was still the same Hermione. He still kept quiet, nervously waiting to.. --he gave a scowl-- play with her.

Hermione seemed to reading his mind as she looked at him with ease, "You're lucky it's suppertime, or else we'd already be sprawled around on the bed."

Draco looked taken back for a minute, then a sly smiled spread on his lips. He wasn't sure why he was reacting this way, but maybe it was the feeling he got around Hermione. Even if she was 'different', it didn't change the affect of her personality on him. He wasn't tense, or nervous; he was happy she was still there with him.

"Oh really? So what's stopping us?" he asked, his voice low and daring.

Sliding off of him, Hermione placed her hands on her half-exposed hips and turned her head to the door, "Your father." she pointed out, and within a second, Lucius Malfoy himself sprung from behind the stone-heavy doors.

Lucius looked at the sight of his son mangled on the bed, looking up at him with what seemed like disappointment, then eyed the young woman who stood nearby. He gave a sneering hiss, "My lord wants us at the table now, mistress. It's time to feast." he left briskly afterwards, grumbling something in a low voice.

Hermione turned back to Draco, who was helping himself up to his feet, "We'll finish this tonight." she kind of said it with reassurance.

As if Draco needed it.

§~*~§

Walking down the long, dark corridors, Draco and Hermione walked side by side. The corridors they passed were tall and large, filled with thousands of portraits who's heads appraised the sight of Hermione. While they glanced at Draco, they whispered under their breaths, 'Another Malfoy.' and smiled sweetly. Draco supposed that they were probably forced to smile like that to all the Malfoys.

Upon reaching the end, the large doors creaked open by itself, revealing a dark hall, much like the Great Hall in Hogwarts, except this was more longer and less wide. To each side sat black cloaked and hooded figures, they immedietly stood up from their seats as the two entered in and gave a bow. In the other side of the doors were small steps, leading to the front platform overlooking the whole room. Two figures were already there; Voldemort and Lucius.

Draco looked around the room, wondering how the population of Death Eaters increased so much, and where in the world he was.

"We are in Caitlar Avon, it's our new hideout." Hermione whispered to him; Draco wondered how she was able to read his mind like that, "It's underground at some secluded swamp region in Britain. As for the Death Eaters, you can ask your father about that."

Nodding, Draco gave her a quick glance, "How did you know I was.."

A smile played on a corner of her lips, "Don't be a fool. Take a guess how." she said without looking up.

Draco's mouth formed an 'O' as he nodded up and down slowly.

Finally climbing up the small steps of the front, and seating themselves down to their seats, Voldemort stood up to give an announcement.

"Tonight," his voice boomed with pride, "Is the night our victory starts. Tonight, is the night all the people in Britain will face the full force of our powers. Tonight is when the blood will start to flow.

"All thanks to our newest member." he gestured Hermione to stand, "Lady Hermione will be leading our wars from now on. She will be the one to help us ruin Britain, then the world."

There was loud clapping as Hermione gazed around the room. But Hermione wasn't taking the flattery, she had other things in mind, "I won't help." she said lowly, and the clapping stopped.

Voldemort, surprised by her words, stared at her wide-eyed, "What?!"

"I said, I won't help." she repeated, her voice steady as ever.

Draco watched as Voldemort slowly began to grow angry, his brows wrinkled down the middle; he saw his father stand up.

"You see what you get when you have a Mudblood woman join us?!" Lucius said in an outburst, "She does not even cooperate!"

Hermione glanced at Lucius with steely eyes, "It's not about my cooperation, you twit, this is about what I am in this whole ordeal." she turned her eyes to Voldemort's smoltering face, "I figured, I am needed for your world conquest. And I am the only one who can pull it off. So I put two and two together, you see, and came up with a sort of.. deal."

"What sort of deal?" Voldemort replied, his voice seething; Draco swore he could of killed her right then and there.

"My help will only come if I am made leader." she answered, leaving her words to shock Voldemort as well as the entire room.

Voldemort stepped up closer to her, his red eyes looked as if they were trying to cut through her mocking eyes.

"We don't need the girl!" Lucius yelled from behind him, "It'll be better off if we kill her!"

A smart smile made itself present upon the words she heard, "And.. how will you do that?" she asked the room with an audacious tone, "I 'am' the one you, Voldie, cannot destroy. Just like Harry was, am I right?" she gave a short chuckle, "You know very well the capabilities I hold. Don't gaze and sneer at me as if I am nothing, or else I won't spare you when my time comes."

Their was a small silence before Lucius began to speak again, "You believe the trash she is saying?! She is not as powerful as you are, my lord. You are the most powerful!"

"Quiet!" Voldemort demanded, his eyes never leaving the girl who stood before him, "A new announcement!" he grumbled, "Lady Hermione is our new leader." with that he swiped his cloak in front of him, and in an instant he apparated away.

The air filled with whispers, and Hermione stood up looking around the whole hall with a smirk. Lucius stood near his seat, his face twisting with disbelief and anger.

Draco was also in disbelief, and wonder what sort of powers did Hermione have. He knew from then on that she wasn't just an ordinary evil woman Voldemort had captured in his grasp, in fact, it looked as if now she was the one that captured him.

Sitting back down, Hermione picked up her fork and began to eat, ignoring Draco's wondering eyes and Lucius hating scowl, as she basked in the sweet feeling of overruling her former ruler.

§~*~§

Author's Notes:
Well, I decided to keep the Book II in the same fic. Besides, people never bother to read sequels sometimes 'cause they first have to read the first story before it. People get lazy and skip the whole thing... :P I do that too, lol. And the rating will maybe be NC17 in a later chapter.. -_-; won't I have fun writing that!!

'Thanks to' next time, aight? ^_^; It's almost the end of the trimester and I've got soooooo much to do!

Besides my excuses, I've got a site for holding Draco/Hermione fanfics and fanart now! So check it out! [PS: if you are a D/Hr author/shipper, I'd very much love to have your fic or art in my site! Please tell me if you'd like to, kay?]

Here's my site : ||Shisen Garyou||
If the link won't work, then the site address is http://shisengaryou.tripod.com

Thanks all!!