Draco and Hermione
by aphrodite-phaedra

Voldemort smiled. "Bow before me." Hermione remained as upright as ever. Voldemort's smile widened. "Well now, they have you young ones trained well--too well." His smile very abruptly disappeared. "We shall see how long you keep silent. Believe me, child, it would be better for you if you spoke now rather than later."

Hermione was itching to scream at him but very wisely kept her mouth shut. She had been trained to, firstly, keep silent on the plans Dumbledore had for the Light Siders, no matter what, and, secondly, to show no emotion whatsoever, should she be captured. Surely the others would come for her. Even if they did not, Hermione understood very well the reasons.

Sometimes, sacrifices had to be made for the greater good.

The click of Voldemort's cane against the floor brought her thoughts back to the present. He was whispering something to a hooded Death Eaters, who whispered something back. Voldemort's smile returned.

"Well, my dear girl, it is my duty-- no pleasure, to inform you that from now on, you'll be working very closely with some of my best men to help your lovely self reveal Dumbledore's plan to me." He tapped his cane once sharply on the floor and out of the shadows came a man. If the man had not been frowning so decidedly, he may have looked at least decent but the scowl on his face seemed to be deeply etched into the skin of his face. He bowed low.

"My Lord."

"Hermione, this is Mr McNib. He has, out of the kindness of his heart--" Hermione snorted inwardly,"-- agreed to let you stay at his house for the time being. You must realize that since you are a Mudblood," he said it as though it were her name and not an insult, "This offer means great sacrifice on his part. Therefore, in order to repay Mr McNib for your food, lodging and any... items of clothing or accessories he provides, you will do everything he asks of you. Labour in return for your life. You got the better end of the bargain, my way of thinking."

He waved his hand in some sort of signal and McNib and the hooded Death Eater stood on either side of Hermione and marched her out of the Main Hall and into a smaller antechamber, where the hooded Death Eater put down his hood.

"You! Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed.

Draco smirked. "It's Mr Malfoy to you, you scum." Hermione glared at Draco. She started to say something but found that she could not. McNib had silenced her. He turned to Draco.

"Thank you for naming to our Dark Lord," He said this in a business-like tone and sounded very insincere. "He would not have rewarded me otherwise."

Draco nodded curtly. "With a reward like that," he spat at Hermione, "It was really nothing at all." Hermione understood that it was an insult to McNib but he seemed oblivious. He gave a small smile and nodded to Draco before grabbing Hermione's elbow and pulling her along with him.

Author's Note:

I hope the second chapter was long enough for those of you who thought the first one was too short. Like I said before, that was supposed to be like a prologue.

ann: I will.
atsume: Thank you : )
Bea: I hope you like this chapter as much as the first then.
BlueEyedTears: Thanks for the compliment : )
BrandyBuckBeak: I hope this is long enough.
dimondcrystal12: I think it will be too.
Harrena Potter: This was soon enough right?
Josiah: Thanks.
juliachan: Thanks very much.
Kristen: Thanks for adding me! : )
owlsrock: Thanks for the advice.
starzcrossed: I did not realize that it was so short until I read it over.
urges: You know what? I love your username.
zuvalupa: Thank you.