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"Tell me, Draco Malfoy, where do your loyalties lie?"

"With you, Lord Voldemort."

A small smile wound its way to Lord Voldemort's lips.

"Good, Draco Malfoy. Good. Take this." Lord Voldemort's personal servant trembled as he gave a carved box to a glaring Draco. On the top was a dagger through a skull, a small pool of blood at the bottom of the dagger.

"My lord, what must I do with this box?" Draco twitched slightly as he casually waved his hand at the small box. A small aura of light flowed around the edges.

"This is no ordinary box. Give this to the destined one. Give this box to the Heir Of Slytherin."

"Who might that be?" Draco asked, his eyebrows rising slightly.

"You ask too many questions, boy. I believe that her name has been changed to Granger… yes… Granger…" Voldemort suddenly sighed and slid down a little in his chair. "It's been a long time, my boy. A long time." Voldemort had the sudden look of an elderly father (which he was). His tired eyes had a distant look, glossy gazed and staring.

"My lord-" Draco began.

"Draco Malfoy. Dear boy, I want you to change her. She is destined to produce my heir with the chosen man. I have chosen you, Draco Malfoy. Bring her to my side. You must give her that box. That box holds something that is hers. Something that she could never forget…" Draco nodded. This father-like Voldemort was much more than he would have liked to have known. "I will, my lord. I will."

"Good. One last thing before you leave. My servant managed to intercept two owls leaving Hogwarts. The letters that they had been carrying were to my daughter and yourself, Draco. They were prefect letters." Draco nodded. "Bring her the letter. Together as a team, you both must work to reach the Head Boy and Head Girl positions. Then, the dark side will be an unstoppable force with three spies."

"Three? Severus Snape is a spy for the dark side?" Voldemort nodded, a slight but evil smile upon his lips.

"Be gone then.  Make her believe her destiny." Voldemort stood, and took up his wand. "Portkenos!" Draco felt the world rushing past him, and before he knew it, he was back in the Malfoy Manor.

It was August 15th. About two and a half weeks left before the start of the new term, and believe it or not, Hermione Granger had not gone to Diagon Alley yet. The sunshine poured delicately into her small corner room, filling the room with light. Hermione groaned and turned onto her back, pulling the shades closed. Immediately the room was filled with black and Hermione put her head back onto the pillow. "Today I have to go to Diagon Alley…" she muttered, closing her eyes again. "Why today???" she moaned, clutching her head. Slowly standing up out of her bed, she stretched. Her back ached from sleeping wrong, and her eyes still had huge bags under them. "Guess it was a bad idea to go to bed at five…" she checked her clock. 8:30. She had only an hour and a half to get to Diagon Alley, and the drive took a half hour. "Best get going…"

She was 15 minutes late when she met up with Harry and Ron (Harry tan from going to America with Sirius, Ron with calluses on his arms and legs from visiting Romania and the dragons with Charlie.) Harry and Ron waved hello quickly before badgering her with questions about her safety of walking alone in the alley. "YOU KNOW WHAT?" she said loudly, glaring at them. "I CAN take care of MYSELF you know!" Harry put his arms up in defeat, and Ron muttered a sorry. 'Typical Ron.' She thought to herself. 'Always the first to apologize when we fight.' Ron was staring off at some fourth year girls who were crowded around Madam Diehl's Fancy Dancy Robes, and giggling loudly. "Ugh, preps." Hermione muttered, shooting another glare at Ron. "Whaaaat?" Ron groaned, looking away. "Come on!" the girl said, dragging the boys off to buy robes, books, and other necessities.

At one they met up with the other Weaslys and split for the last few days of the summer. Harry and Sirius were going to Germany for a week, and Ron wanted to "sleep" until he had to leave for school. Hermione told Harry to have a good time, gave Ginny a hug, and told Ron to behave for the next few days. After that she looked back as the last twin disappeared through the fireplace, and went back out to Diagon Alley. Checking over her list to make sure that she had everything, she felt a prickle on her neck. She looked around. Nothing but those damn preps still batting their eyelashes and petting each other, and a group small group of second or third years standing outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies. A few middle-aged witches stood with their first years outside of stores. Diagon Alley was the emptiest Hermione had ever seen it. "Must be my imagination. There isn't anyone here looking at me…" But she felt it again. A shiver ran up her spine. Still, nothing. She shrugged and sat down on the steps at Gringotts Wizarding bank. But what was it? Hermione began to sweat. Something that she could not see was looking at her. Well, she could see it; she just didn't know where it was. Someone dropped their bags right next to Hermione and looked down at her. At the sound of the books on the marble stairs, Hermione screamed and rolled down five stairs. "Ouch! DAMN IT!" she rubbed her hip standing up and quickly wiped the blood from her now bleeding hand on her jeans. A light red smear was now there, but Hermione didn't care. "Thanks A LOT Malfoy! Damn it, WHY did you do that?" Draco stretched lazily. "Do what? All that I did was drop my books."  Hermione narrowed her eyes. What was wrong with the Draco Malfoy? Why was He was being civilized? "Malfoy, what's up with you?? You're being civilized to a mudblood??" Draco slowly smirked. "I am not civilized to mudbloods. What's up with me? Well, I know something that the top student of our year doesn't know." Hermione's eyes were now slits.

"What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about? Damn it Granger, I thought that you would know. It's just that," His smirk widened. "I am not allowed to tell you until the time is right." He laughed at Hermione's confused expression. He pulled out her letter and tossed it to her. He sat down next to his bags and pulled out the box too, hiding it from her view. Inside he looked at the necklace. A silver dagger and a gold lion's head. He was thinking about it when Hermione screamed and jumped up. Snapping the box shut, he looked at her. She was dancing around on the marble, waving the letter around like an idiot. "Idiot." He murmured. Hermione kept dancing, so Draco took the opportunity to inspect the necklace further. Her squeals still coming from time to time, he slowly opened the box. Her necklace was on a silver chain with a gold clasp on the back. The eyes of the lion (one an emerald, the other a ruby) glowed deeply. The pendant had a dim aura of blackness around it. His eyes glued to it and all of his attention focused on it, he didn't realize that Hermione had stopped screaming and was coming over to him. "What are you looking at, Malfoy?" she asked, plopping down next to him. Draco jumped and tossed the box into his closest bag. "N…nothing…" Hermione shrugged and Draco breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't see it. "Well," Draco said, gathering his bags. "Pleasure to give you that damn letter, Granger. Good bye." Hermione looked up, perplexed. Um… ok… bye Malfoy?" he nodded, with that look of 'I know something you don't know' still plastered upon his face, and strode off heading for The Leaky Cauldron. "I wonder what that was all about…" she muttered, picking up her letter and flipping it over in her hands as she watched him walk through the door. Gathering her stuff, she walked off through the alley. She didn't feel like shopping anymore.

September 1st rolled around rather quickly. Hermione was only halfway through her charms book (Which was the last book that she needed to read from all of the books that she had bought.) when she woke up. "Shit…" she muttered, looking at the clock. 8:45. She brushed her teeth while she showered and quickly combed it through. "I'll dry it on the train…" she muttered, pulling on jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt. She threw her last book into her trunk, shoved her wand into her pocket, and grabbed a doughnut on her way through the kitchen. She and her mother got into the car just as the clock struck 10. Giving her mother one last hug, she pushed her trolley through the barrier and was on the platform at 10:45. "Shit." She mumbled again. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." A couple of first years gave her a startled look as the passed. Hermione looked around for Terry Boot (the Ravenclaw prefect) or Susan Bones (the Hufflepuff prefect) "Hello Granger." A voice that could belong only to Draco Malfoy said from behind her. She jumped a little and turned to him. "Hullo, Malfoy. Just peachy seeing you today." Draco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah Granger. Save it. McGonagall is waiting until you get to the front of the train to apparate. She's a little impatient right now…" Hermione gasped. McGonagall was here? "SHIT!" she screamed, throwing her trunk at the train attendant and dropping her owl, Jade's cage next to it (Crookshanks had died over the summer from "Gnome Poisoning") Jade, a small, black owl with big green eyes, hooted irritably as her cage bumped into the trunk. Hermione jumped onto the train, Malfoy just behind her. McGonagall smiled at Draco and turned to Hermione. "Hello Miss Granger! Thank you, Draco; Now that you are all here, the train can leave in ten minutes. Hermione sighed and sat down next to Susan. "One last thing, Prefects. After the feast, you will escort the first years to their dorms. All of the houses have the same password, which is Dragon Wand. After that, meet my back in the Great Hall for your rooms. "What? We have our own rooms?" Susan exclaimed, looking shocked. "Yes, Miss Bones. Each of you has your own bedroom. There is a prefect bathroom, and a common room. And you each get a key to your own private study room on the second floor of the library." Hermione looked delighted at that, and Draco rolled his eyes at her. "Well then," the professor said. "I will see you tonight!" with a last smile and a flick of her wand, she was gone. Hermione sighed and sat back, pulling out her charms book read.

At one, the trolley came around and Draco bought quite a few Caldron cakes. Susan and Terry bought some as well before Hannah Abbot came with Justin Finch-Fletchley and told them to come talk with some other friends. Hermione didn't even notice it when the trolley came by because she was too busy reading and using a drying charm on her hair. After the witch left, Hermione turned the last page and snapped her book closed. "Has the trolley come yet?" she asked, turning to Draco who had a cake half in his mouth. He nodded. "You can have some of mine. I'm not that hungry." He said, shoving some caldron cakes and a box of every flavor beans. "Thanks, Malfoy." Hermione said, eating gratefully. He shrugged and looked out the window. As the train moved around the corners on the track, everything tilted to the right for a second, just long enough for a bag with Hermione's box to fall from the compartment above the door. Draco paled a little, and picked it up, hoping that Hermione didn't see it. Unfortunately, she did. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the box. "Uhh…" The dagger was glowing red, and the box had begun to shake a little. "It's for you… from your father."

"My father would never give you a box to give to me. He doesn't even know you!" Draco shook his head. "You're wrong, Hermione. You're wrong for once. They are not your parents. Have you ever wondered why you were sent to the school? There are no other students who have all muggles in their past. You were told that you did. You were raised that way. They are not your parents."

"Draco, I don't understand…" Hermione said, cocking her head to the side a little. Draco sat down next to her and held out the box to her. "You're a pureblood, Hermione. Your father told me to give you this box, and he told me to tell you that you are a pureblood." Hermione nodded and took the box from him. She opened it and her jaw dropped. A silver piece of parchment fell out, green lettering at the top reading "My daughter, Hermione Riddle," Hermione read the letter, and looked at Draco. "Holy shit…" she said. Draco put the necklace around her neck, and then she fainted on Draco's shoulder, and didn't wake up until Susan accidentally kicked her when she came back in.

At dinner that night Hermione didn't utter a word. The necklace had an eerie glow around the edges, and Hermione kept her eyes glued to her food. "Something wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked, putting a finger under Hermione's chin and lifting her face up to look at his and Ron's worried faces. "No…" she said, pushing Harry's hand away and looking down again. "I was just thinking about Crookshanks." "S'ok, Mione." Ron said, Hermione shrugged. At long last Dumbledore stood up and announced that it was bedtime. "Griffindor! This way! Keep up!" Hermione yelled over the crowd. She could see Draco, Susan, and Terry doing the same. After she explained to the first years about how to get back to the Great Hall, she exited through the portrait.

Hermione was the first one back to the hall. Even McGonagall wasn't there yet. She was showing the sixth year prefects and the Head Boy and Head Girl to their dorms. Hermione sat down at the closest table and drummed her fingers on the wood. The door opened with a loud bang when it hit the wall, and Draco walked in. He looked around to see that the hall was empty and sat down across from Hermione.

 "How are you taking everything?" he asked, looking at her.

"I can't believe that I am his daughter." She said, looking at Draco's silver eyes. "It's so weird! I mean, I am probably going to be expected to be on the dark side or something!" Draco looked away. "That's what he wants, and what the dark lord wants, he gets." Hermione nodded. "Yeah, and I can't believe it." Draco looked over at her, "Hermione, do you know why you are in Griffindor?" Hermione looked up. "You called me Hermione." He nodded. "Yeah, so?" She shrugged. "Nothing. Just… never mind. Why am I in Griffindor?" Draco sighed and looked up at her. "Hermione, you are in Griffindor because of your mother." 

"You haven't told me about her. Who was she? What did she look like?" Draco rolled his eyes. "Hermione, if you didn't notice in the letter, it said that your mother was killed when you were a year old. Since we are both 15 right now, I don't think that I would have known her." Hermione nodded. "You're right… I just want to know all that I can. I need to meet my father." Draco nodded. "Christmas break my family is having a ball to celebrate the new rising of the Dark Lord. You are going to have to come, because you're his daughter. I hope that we can get along like this from now on, because it's going to be hell if I have to explain to you everything and we're fighting." Hermione nodded.

"Truce?" Draco asked, not averting his attention from her black eyes.

"Truce." She agreed. And the door to the hall opened to reveal a very stressed McGonagall, Susan, and Terry. "First day back and ALREADY I have to punish the Weasley twins for leaving those blasted candies out!" Hermione rolled her eyes at Draco and they followed their professor to their new dorms.

The dorms were pretty basic. A common room in the middle with a two doors to the right, two to the left, a door to the bathroom, a door to the library, and a door to the Great Hall. Hermione's room was the last on the right, Draco's right next to hers; Susan's was the last on the left with Terry's next door. The students split up and went to their dorms for bed. Hermione took off her robes and started to read another book, The Shining by Stephen King. She was totally absorbed until 11. Marking her page she stood up and stretched. She looked at the letter that her father had sent her, which was lying on her desk. She stood up and went out her door to Draco's room. She knocked twice. Draco slowly opened the door for her and let her in. She sat on the bed and looked at him. "Tell me about my father."

A/n This is NOT a sequel to the Dark World of Pain. It doesn't even follow the same storyline if you couldn't tell. That is just to clarify. Should I continue? I have a really good idea for this story, so I would like to know if you enjoyed it.

GerHPfa