Chapter 28-

AN-Thanks to all of my reviewers, I love you all!!!!!

Happy Reading…

Draco was positively dreading his meeting with you-know-who Saturday. He had already told Hermione that he wouldn't be able to hang out with her on Saturday because he was meeting with his "Aunt" in Hogsmeade. He really didn't want to go, but he had to hear what Voldemort had to say…he had 'plans' for him and Hermione? Draco had to know what they were.

Draco was also very angry with himself for not telling Hermione about the letter. She deserved to know, but how was he going to tell her that she was the daughter of the most evil person (if you could call him that) in the entire world. He had finally decided that he would see what Voldemort had to say before he told Hermione.

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Saturday came all too quickly for Draco. He had decided to leave early in the morning so he wouldn't have to face Hermione before going to face the dark lord. He snuck out and proceeded to the Shrieking Shack.

An hour later he was inside of the building, waiting for Voldemort to show up. He knew that he would only come when it was continent for him, so he got comfortable. 'This is going to be a long day.' he thought as he sat staring out the window. 'I shouldn't have come. I know that this is going to turn out bad, but what could he possibly want with Hermione. And how is she his daughter? That's not possible is it? Does he want to reclaim her?'

Suddenly Draco was brought back to reality when he heard a loud cracking sound. He looked up and saw Voldemort looking down at him. A small smile spread across his nonexistent lips as a bony hand patted his shoulder. Draco, out of habit, went down on a knee and said, "Good Morning, My Lord."

The man chuckled and pulled Draco to his feet. "Come, we must talk." he said as he led Draco to another room. Voldemort motioned for him to take a seat in a red velvet chair in front of the fire and he did so immediately.

"How may I serve you, My Lord?" Draco asked in a slightly shaky voice. 'You are scum and I hate you!' Draco added to himself.

"Well, I am sure you have many questions about the letter that I sent you, so let me address them. First, Hermione is really my daughter. Her mother died during labor and I could not take care of her, so I left her in an orphanage. That was only a few months before the incident with Mr. Potter." he added as an afterthought. "Second, being that I have no male heir, I want you to marry my Hermione and then you will be able to take my throne when I pass. You will become King and Queen of the Dark Kingdom. Last, I think that we should begin your death-eater training as soon as possible. I think your induction ceremony should take place over your up and coming vacation. Do you think that will be okay?"

Draco was speechless, 'NO! I will not ever worship you!!!!' he yelled to himself, but instead of voicing his feelings, he just nodded.

"Very good. Owl me when you find the best time. By the way, we, my most trusted Death Eaters and I, have been occupying Malfoy Manor, so you can just go home for your vacation. Is that okay?"

'NOOOOOOOOOO!' Draco screamed to himself, but once again he just nodded.

"Very good. Well, I have lots to do. Have a good day, and owl me before you came home. Address it to Wormtail. He will get it to me. Goodbye."

Draco got up to leave, but was stopped when Voldemort called his name. He turned around and said, "Yes, My Lord?"

"You didn't know she was a pureblood until I told you. So, you were going to go against me, and for that I must punish you. CRUCIO!" he yelled.

Draco immediately fell to the ground. Draco had experienced this particular curse many times from his father, but ever time seemed to be a new and more painful experience. He could feel every single part of his body in pain, but he refused to cry out. He tried to remain totally silent, but soon a gasp of pain escaped his lips and he knew that he would not be able to stand it much longer. Then, right when he thought it would never end, the pain stopped and he knew that Voldemort had lifted the curse. Draco lay there panting as Voldemort spoke once again.

"Remember that for if it happens again, I can guarantee that it will hurt ten times worse. Never disobey or go against me again. Have a good day." With that, there was another loud crack and he was gone.

'I HATE that thing!!!!' Draco screamed to himself.

Another hour passed before Draco had the strength to get up and walk back to Hogwarts. 'How could I have not seen that coming? I will not be his heir and I will not hurt Hermione. I am going to tell her as soon as I get home and then we are going to Professor Dumbledore. Yeah, he will know what to do.' Draco thought as he slowly walked towards Hogwarts. 'Guess this kind of messes up our plans for this Christmas Vacation.'

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"Marshmallow." he whispered when he reached the portrait. It swung open and he took a deep breath before walking in. 'I have no idea what to say.' he thought as he scanned the common room for Hermione. When he saw that she wasn't there, he ran up to her room. She wasn't there either, so he decided to try the Gryffindor Common Room. He walked through the portrait that connected the two rooms and scanned the room. He finally found her sitting in the corner with Potter and Weasley.

He walked over to them and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hermione, I need to talk to you." he said quietly.

"Draco! You look horrible. What happened?" Hermione said when she saw him.

"Nothing. Can we talk please?"

"Sure, I'll see you guy's later, okay?" Hermione said to Harry and Ron.

"Yeah, go." Harry said.

"Thanks." Hermione said as she walked back to her room with Draco in tow.

When they were back in their common room, Draco said, "You should probably set down." She did. "Oh, let me go get something. I will be right back." he said as he ran up to his room and got his letter.

When Draco had finally gotten back downstairs, he had a piece of parchment in his hands. "What's wrong, Draco?" Hermione asked in very worried voice.

"Well, first I want to say I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I lied to you and I have been keeping things from you."

"What are you talki--"

Draco cut Hermione off. "Please, just let me tell you, this is already hard enough." Hermione nodded and he continued. "Do you remember a week ago when we all received letters during breakfast?" Hermione nodded again. "Well, the letter I got was from You-Know-Who." Hermione gasped, but Draco held up a hand to silence her. Then he showed her the letter and told her about the meeting. By the time Draco was done talking, Hermione was in total hysterics.

"No, this can't be true…no, no, no…." she kept mumbling over and over.

"Hermione, I'm sorry that I didn't I didn't tell you sooner. I just had to see what his plans were before I could tell you." Draco said as he sat down beside her and held her tight. "We need to go talk to Dumbledore. I am sure that he will be able to help us, okay?"

Hermione nodded and Draco pulled her to her feet. "I love you and that will never change. We will beat him. I promise you." she nodded again and they began walking towards the portrait hole.

"I love you too." she said, choking down her tears.

"Hey, do you want to get Potter and Weasley? I think that it would be good for them to know." Draco said.

"Okay. Will you go get them? I don't want to walk in there like this." Hermione said.

"Yeah, hold on." he said and he ran up to the Gryffindor portrait in her room once again. "Potter, Weasley, come here." he demanded.

The two boys exchanged glances before standing and following Draco into Hermione's room. "What is going on, Malfoy?" Ron asked in a slightly angry tone.

"Please just come with me." Draco begged.

"Fine."

"Thank you." he said as he stopped at the door and turned to the boys. "Hermione is in the Common Room and she had been crying, but please do not ask any questions. All will be answered when we get to Professor Dumbledore's office."

They both nodded with a little apprehension.

"Good. Thanks. Hermione really needs us to be strong now. Let's go." Draco said as he opened the door and walked down to meet Hermione.

"Ready?" he asked her and she nodded. "Okay, let's go."

They four students walked in silence for five minutes when they finally arrived at the statue of the gargoyle signaling Dumbledore's office. "Does anyone know the new password?" Draco asked when they arrived.

They all shook their heads. "It's always candy…" Harry said as he remembered all of the passwords from the past years.

"Okay, let's start naming off candy."

"Chocolate Frogs." said a voice form behind them and the gargoyle immediately moved, revealing a staircase. They turned around and saw none other than Snape. "Well, go on." he said.

"Thank you Professor." Hermione said as they walked up the steps. Snape however, did not leave; he followed them into Dumbledore's office.

"Well good afternoon all. Have a seat." Dumbledore said when they entered. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"I-I…" Draco trailed off as he looked between Professor Snape and Dumbledore. Draco knew that Snape was one of the Dark Lords most trusted Death Eaters.

Dumbledore seemed to catch on because he said, "Snape is on our side. He is a spy." The others in the room nodded in agreement so he decided it was okay

"Really? Well, it all started with this letter that I received from You-Know-Who." Draco began as he handed the letter to Dumbledore. Then Draco retold the whole story, leaving nothing out.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy. We are obviously going to have to find an excuse to get you out of going back to your house for Christmas Vacation. Ms. Granger, you also will not be able to go home. He will most likely try to pick you up."

"Why don't they just come over to my house over vacation?" Ron said.

"That is a splendid idea, Mr. Weasley. No one will ever guess that a Malfoy would be caught dead at the Burrow." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

"You're telling me." Draco mumbled under his breath. 'This is going to be a long vacation.' he thought.

"Well," Dumbledore said. "I am sorry that I cannot tell you any more as of now, Severus and I will come up with something. You are dismissed."

They all got up and left, so Snape and Dumbledore could discuss plans.

"So, you are really the daughter of Voldemort?" Harry asked, not noticing everyone flinching at the mention if the name.

"I guess." Hermione replied.

"Hermione, I want you to know that me, Ron and Draco will stick by you no matter what." Harry said.

Ron, Draco and I." Hermione corrected, trying to lighten the mood. "Really, you have hung out with me for six years and you still speak incorrectly."

"Well, not everyone can be as perfect as you, my little genius." Draco said as he patted her on the head.

"Draco! I told you not to call me that!" Hermione scolded.

"Whatever you say, sugar lips."

"Fine, Pooh Bear."

"No! Do not call me that."

"Whatever you say, Pooh Bear." Hermione mocked as she took off down the hallway.

Draco immediately took off after her, leaving Harry and Ron in hysterics. "D-did you hear that, Harry?"

"Yeah, I love you Sugar Lips." Harry said in a mock-Draco voice.

"I love you too, Pooh Bear." Ron said in a high-pitched, girly voice.

When they were finally done laughing Harry said, "So, are you okay with them spending the entire vacation with us?"

"Yeah, I think I am. Hermione will be safe and that's all that matters."

"You're a really good guy, Sugar Lips."

"You too, Pooh Bear."