((A.N. Okay, part two! Like I said, this was all supposed to be one big chapter, but honestly, it was too long. R for the same reasons as last chapter and I'm trying to keep this short so I won't say anymore! By the way, anonymous reviewer Spiffy, you are so brilliant! You are the only one who understood that metaphor before I explained it! Good for you! Oh yeah, review!))
Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. Or Draco Malfoy, or Johnny Depp, or Orlando Bloom, or Brad Pitt . . .*starts to cry*
"Let us begin then. Draco, come forward."
At the Dark Lord's gesture, Draco rose. He wasn't eager to look into Voldemort's eyes, for he once remembered hearing that the Dark Lord was skilled at reading minds. He knew that the ceremony required it, though. His only choice was to throw all the hate he felt for his father and for Lemanus into his gaze and pray that it was enough to mask his love for the young woman behind him.
Voldemort showed no emotion as he met Draco's flaming gaze.
"Are you ready to accept the full burden of becoming my loyal servant?"
"I am," Draco said without hesitation.
"Do you promise to devote the rest of your life to serving me, and only me?"
"I promise."
Suddenly Draco felt as if he had been released from a spell. He began to suspect that the words as had said met more than they seemed.
"Step forward, Draco Malfoy, and take the final oath," Voldemort said quietly. Draco moved face to face with Lord Voldemort, still seated on his throne, and drew up the sleeve of his shirt to his forearm.
Voldemort snapped, and a servant brought him his wand on a velvet pillow. Voldemort held the wand at arms distance in front of him and muttered an incantation. The tip of the wand suddenly shifted and became seething lava. Draco didn't flinch as Voldemort brought the wand down on his arm. He let out a small hiss as it touched his skin. Slowly the Dark Lord drew a flowing skull and finished it with a snake slithering out of the mouth. The boiling lava coursed through his skin, igniting every nerve in his body. His hissed again and grabbed his forearm in pain. Slowly the burning subsided. Draco bowed and made his way over to Lemanus and Hermione as Voldemort called, "Blaise Zabini, come forward."
Blaise began taking the same vows that Draco had taken.
Lemanus moved to whisper in his ear. "I take it that the girl is still a virgin, yes?" At Draco's expression, Lemanus continued, "I will be sure to make her first time particularly memorable."
Draco clenched his fists and stared at Lemanus, his eyes full of hatred. This only seemed to delight Lemanus further. Draco was about to hit him when they heard a yelp.
Draco turned to watch Voldemort drawing the snake emblem on Blaise's arm. Blaise cried out again, and staggered back as soon as Voldemort was finished. He clutched his forearm and came to standby Draco.
"Miss Granger, step forward," Voldemort drawled, his eyes taking on a new light. Draco didn't like the look in Voldemort's eyes. He didn't like it at all.
Hermione, trying to look unafraid, stepped forward to face Voldemort.
"I will not make you take the vows, girl, because firstly, you have not come here by your own free will, and secondly, I am informed that you serve the Malfoys' also."
Voldemort's red eyes flickered to Draco ever so quickly before returning to her.
"Come closer," he commanded, drawing a long finger to her. Uncertainly Hermione stepped closer, close enough to reach out an arm and touch him.
"Let us get one thing . . ." he rose out of his seat, and she took a step back, ". . . perfectly straight."
Lemanus's had his hand on Draco's shoulder, and he's felt the boy's muscles tighten under his grip.
"This is what I think of you."
Voldemort smacked Hermione across the face. The slap rang out over the silence of the entire hall.
"This is what I think of your muggle parents."
His second slap sent her reeling backwards. Draco was surprised to see blood on her cheek until he realized that Voldemort was wearing a ring.
"If I showed you what I thought of Harry Potter, you would be worse than dead."
Hermione suddenly pushed herself up and turned to face him. Her eyes were filled with defiance.
"You do not scream," Voldemort observed casually. "Why not?"
"I would not waste my breath on the likes of you!" Hermione said acidly, her eyes glowing with anger. Voldemort's eyes filled with surprise, and the Death Eaters gasped in shock at what she had said. Lemanus was behind her at once, and he pulled her arms behind her back.
"You asked me a question and I answered it!" Hermione yelled over the din, struggling against Lemanus's restraint.
"You speak out against the great Lord!" Lemanus yelled, pulling her closer. "The more defiance you show to Lord Voldemort, the harder I thrust myself into you after the ceremony!"
Hermione gave a terrified gasp and jerked against him once, but he was too strong. Blaise was the only one close enough to hear the second part in all the noise, and quickly masked his shock. Draco had noticed none of this, though. He was watching the murderous expression on Lord Voldemort's face as he gazed at the girl. For as long as Draco could remember, no one had insulted the great Lord Voldemort. He would kill Hermione on the spot if he had his way.
"My Lord," Draco said suddenly. The noise from the Death Eaters died down. Draco faked an amused tone as he said, "The mudblood doesn't know whom she is talking to. She has not seen your deeds of greatness." Draco went down on one knee, as did his father and Lemanus. Lucius could not have Hermione killed yet; she was crucial to his plan. Blaise copied them quickly, and suddenly the whole hall was kneeling to Lord Voldemort. He smiled, accepting the compliment, and forgot about Hermione's wrongdoing for a moment.
"I suppose that the girl doesn't have enough wits to understand what a crime she has committed," Voldemort said slowly, "but I am sure that Lucius will see to it that she never does it again."
"Gladly, my Lord," Lemanus answered for him.
"Step forward," Voldemort said, his tone of voice sending shivers down Draco's spine.
Her cheeks still burning from Voldemort's slap and what Lemanus had said to her, Hermione slowly came forward.
For the third time, Voldemort muttered the incantation on his wand, and the tip ignited to molten lava. He grabbed Hermione's forearm with and icy hand, and began to draw the skull. As the wand touched her skin, a burning like a thousand needles overtook her body. A second stretched to an hour, and she could barely stop from crying out. I will not give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream, she decided, biting her tongue until it bled.
Draco heard the sizzling of skin and knew that Voldemort was piercing her skin far harder and deeper than his, just to make her scream. He watched in awe as Hermione stood perfectly still, her mouth firmly closed.
Finally the pain in Hermione's arm receded, leaving an icy feeling in her bones. To Hermione's horror, Voldemort reached his hand up to her cheek, cold as a morning dew drop. She felt the cut on her cheek close up, and the blood disappeared. He slowly trailed his hand down her neck, and finally to her chest, where it came to rest just above the sapphire blue necklace between her breasts. Smiling, he closed his around the necklace for a moment, and it became warm under her skin.
"Use it to get to our meetings. It works as a portkey now," he whispered, removing his hand.
Giving him a seething look, Hermione backed down to where Blaise and Draco stood. Her neck and chest were still icy where he had touched her, and she suddenly wanted to be sick. Blaise gave her an odd look, and glanced quickly at Lemanus before returning his gaze to the Dark Lord. Draco wanted to take her into his arms for all the world and tell her how brave she'd been, tell her how sick all these men were.
Lucius stepped up and addressed the entire hall.
"The success of our next mission depends on the three youths standing before you tonight. Let us hope they do not disappoint us, and let us wish them the best."
Voldemort stood also. "This meeting is adjourned. We will discuss our tactics for the mission soon. Farewell."
With that, Voldemort evaporated into thin air. To Hermione it seemed that the room became instantly warmer and more at ease.
"I must also leave," Lucius said suddenly. "I need to plan with Lord Voldemort in private. You did well, Draco."
Lucius also dissipated into thin air without another word. Death Eaters were still walking around, talking loudly and joking. Some were waiting to dissapparate (the hall was too full for everyone to do it at once) others were using the floo. The only people on the dias were Draco, Hermione, Blaise, and Lemanus.
Lemanus climbed down and beckoned to two guards. He began whispering to them quietly.
"You're braver than both of us," Blaise commented suddenly. His eyes pierced hers with intensity. He pulled her closer to whisper in her ear.
"I heard what that man said to you. He wasn't serious, was he?"
Hermione's lips trembled and she nodded. "I think he was."
She turned from Blaise to Draco. "Draco, Lemanus said . . ."
"I know what he said," Draco said softly, his eyes fixed on Hermione. "I don't intend to let him come within three meters of you."
Draco, however, could not hear Lemanus's whispered words to the guards. "Escort the boy to his room, but do not make a scene. Force him, if you have to, once you are out of this hall. Lock him in his room and keep him under close guard for the rest of the night. Do not let him escape, or Lord Voldemort will have your heads. Send the girl to my chambers immediately. Keep her under close guard the entire way. She is cleverer than you think."
The head guard nodded, and Lemanus slipped a bag of coins into his pocket. "For your trouble," he said softly. The guard's face lit up. "We will see to it, immediately, my Lord."
Lemanus smiled and strode across the hall, exiting without much notice or concern.
Draco looked at Hermione and remembered the dream he had suffered from all of his life, with the rose garden and the golden rose that sparkled with so strongly with innocence and beauty.
"My golden rose," he whispered softly, wondering why he hadn't seen it before.
"What did you call me?" Hermione asked, catching his eyes in her own.
"Master Malfoy," a guard said from behind him, "some urgent business requires your concern."
"I will tend to it tomorrow, then," Draco called back, not bothering to turn around. Hermione was waiting for his answer.
From Blaise's view, the two guards looked at each other, and one pulled out his wand. He muttered something indiscernible, and Draco's face paled. He realized that he was not moving his own limbs anymore. The Imperius curse, Draco thought suddenly.
"I will be right back," he heard his voice saying confidently. With that he strode off the stage and followed the guards. He began trying to throw the curse off with all his might.
"Where is he going?" Hermione questioned, panic rising in her voice. Blaise was staring suspiciously at the jerky form of Draco. "Something's not right here. I don't think . . ."
He was cut off by two guards appearing at Hermione's elbows. Hermione looked around at them helplessly. There was no way to even try an escape with about fifty Death Eaters milling around.
"You are to report to Lemanus Gilroy's chambers, Miss Granger. We have come to escort you safely there."
The guards looked at her with fake cheery expressions. Blaise could tell, though, that the guards were only being polite for his benefit, trying to assure him and the other Death Eaters that everything was fine.
Each guard was more than two heads taller than her, and she bowed her own head submissively. "Of course," she whispered, as if she had been expecting it. No need to make Blaise become even more suspicious than he already was.
The guards smiled at him before one took her arm politely. They strode purposefully out of the hall, in the opposite direction that Draco had gone. Wondering at the odd situation, Blaise lined up with the other men to take the floo system home.
(A.N. Next chapter may be extremely R-rated, just warning. What did you think? Review!))