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Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me but J.K. Rowling.

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Chapter 2

Hermione Granger, Head Girl at Hogwarts, was Dumbledore's only hope this year. She was even more persistent and enthusiastic to learn and practice magic since last year's attack and had not, like many other students, given up her courage or faith in Dumbledore.

Indeed, since Voldemort's attack, most Gryffindors and other students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff no longer believed that they were safe at Hogwarts, or that Dumbledore could stop He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, had once again sacked Dumbledore within the first hours following the attack, but he had soon realised that no other wizard stood a chance against Voldemort and so he was forced to reinstate Dumbledore as Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Though her faith in Dumbledore was unshakeable, Hermione felt herself crumble inside. The Death Eaters attack had broken both students and teachers' spirits. Among the survivors, some students had left Hogwarts too traumatised or scared to return again, whilst others came back filled with even more fear and nightmares than the previous year.

As for Harry, well, she didn't know what to do about him anymore. The Boy Who Lived would rather prefer to die nowadays than face his fears. Harry was already psychologically and physically frail after Sirius' death but, ever since the last attack, which caused the death of Seamus Finnigan, Colin Creevey and his brother, Cho Chang and also members of the Order, it was even worse.

Harry Potter had become a frightened little boy, who never spoke for himself anymore and dreaded his encounters with Dumbledore or anyone else who reminded him of his destiny. His friend Ron, on the contrary, had become bitter, desperate and violent ever since the death of his brother Charlie. The loss of a brother had torn Ron inside, along with the rest of the Weasley family.

The previous summer Hermione had been the first to witness and bear these changes amongst her two best friends, and now her only rest and peace was back home among the Muggle world, which still ignored the very existence of magic. However, Hermione had also spent her summer worrying about another student at Hogwarts. She had spent the previous year tutoring him in certain subjects on Snape's and Dumbledore's orders and unwillingly had become closer to him.

Draco Malfoy had accepted these lessons, however outrageous they were, not for his own good but because he thought he might be able to get his own back at Harry through Hermione. His father had ordered him to break up Dumbledore's Golden trio in any possible way and Draco had believed Hermione to be the easiest to manipulate and corrupt. However, he had underestimated her and after spending so much time together, he had finally let himself be influenced by her faith in him instead.

Hermione remembered painfully the last day she had seen him before the end of term and Voldemort's attack. She had begged him to come with her to see Dumbledore, who could save him from following his father's path. Her obstinate stance had caused him to tell her the real reason behind his interest in her, and why he had allowed her, a filthy little Mudblood, to even look at him.

His words had cut Hermione deep, and she had walked away from him before he could see her tears.

Now it had been a week since she was back at Hogwarts, and she preferred to ignore Draco rather than let her curiosity get her. He was Head Boy and like her, he had his own dorm but they shared a common room together. Not once did Hermione see him in the common room, nor did she ever hear him in his bedroom.

They both kept as far away from each other as they could, but today Hermione had had enough and was determined to talk to him. She was Head Girl after all and had the right to worry about her fellow classmate.

You keep telling yourself that, Hermione thought angrily to herself.

What she would tell him she had no idea, but she knew she had to see Draco. Her heart was desperate to see the Slytherin, who she had spent so much time with before, who she had learnt to respect over time and who, though she would never admit it, had got under her skin.

The only plan she had been able to think of was to hang around The Hog's Head, where she knew he would come.

Unfortunately for her, as she hung around the entrance to the pub, Draco was not the one she found.

"Well, well, well, some say the Gryffindors are brave but to come all the way over here; that's just plain stupid," a voice whispered in her ear.

Hermione whipped around to find Blaise Zabini accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Get her!" Zabini snarled.

Hermione hardly had time to pull out her wand before Crabbe caught her by the shoulders, whilst Goyle snatched her wand out of her hand. A devilish grin appeared on Zabini's face and Hermione realised she was in deep trouble. No one had known where she had gone and besides all her friends were too scared now to face Draco and his Slytherin friends. They pushed her into the pub and although Hermione hoped that someone might notice she was being restrained, the few customers present chose to ignore her instead.

"Like playing at being Malfoy do you, with these two baboons?" Hermione asked Blaise, as she was pushed harder into a backroom.

"Shut up, Mudblood!" he barked at her. His face had turned a different shade at her question, but he soon rejoiced when Goyle closed the door.

"So, you thought us Slytherins wouldn't notice your presence Granger?"

Both Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at his comment, whilst the others sitting around turned their heads to watch the scene. The room was bare except for tables, chairs and the dozen or so sixth and seventh year Slytherins who were present. Overall the light was quite dim and Hermione could not recognise most of the faces, especially those hiding in the corners of the room, but she could hear them.

"You know if Malfoy were here, I'm sure he'd agree with me that you deserve a punishment Granger. Something that will make your tiny pea brain think twice before ever assuming you are more cunning than any of us."

At Blaise's words, a general hum of agreement followed. Hermione became more and more nervous, twitching under Crabbe's grip, desperate to find an escape.

"Don't use Malfoy as an excuse for your twisted fantasies, Zabini!" she answered back.

"Don't ever say his name again! You aren't worthy enough Mudblood." Blaise's voice dropped to a menacing tone Hermione had never heard before. She gulped nervously, but it wasn't going to stop her now.

"Malfoy isn't such a sick fuck as -"

WHACK! Before she had finished, she felt a hand smash into her face. Blaise hit her hard and it took her several moments to recover. Her lip was cut and bleeding but she didn't care.

She was furious. How dare that idiot hit her, the Head Girl! But she soon realised that Blaise's face was fuming with the same intensity as hers. It angered her even more. She inhaled deeply, ready to spit out her own venom, when the back room door opened again and Draco Malfoy entered.

"Granger!" he snarled.

Blaise quickly spun around, while Crabbe loosened his tight grip on Hermione. She also looked up, as did most of the Slytherins around, to find the Malfoy heir looking at her intently from the door. He was standing quite majestically among the others, his white-blond hair forming a kind of halo above the black robes he wore. His hair framed perfectly his pale white skin thus making his appearance almost angelic.

But Hermione knew perfectly well that he was no angel and trouble had really started for her.

"Malfoy, look who we found," Blaise told him. "She was spying on us outside the Hog's Head. What do you want us to do with her? Surely she should be punished -"

"Everyone out! Now!" Draco exclaimed angrily. At his order everyone got up and left; the bows Draco received before his classamates left were not unnoticed by Hermione. She turned her gaze on Draco and watched as his eyes darkened with anger when he approached her and noticed her bruised cheek and cut lip. Furious, he grabbed Blaise by the collar.

"Don't you ever touch her again! Do you understand?"

Blaise hesitated but as Draco tightened his grasp, Hermione saw him lower his eyes in fear, nod and leave.

Left alone with Draco, Hermione looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected him to defend her, but nonetheless, she was determined to give the ferret boy a piece of her mind. Draco, on the other hand, seemed to be using every ounce of energy to contain his wrath.

"Sit," he ordered and before Hermione could protest, he took out his wand.

"Accio chair!"

A nearby chair came zooming behind her and forced her to sit.

"I thought I'd made myself quite clear that I had nothing left to say to you," he hissed, holding up her bruised face and examining it. In his other hand, he held Hermione's wand that Goyle had given to him before walking out.

"I needed to see you," Hermione replied.

"And why is that?" Draco answered looking down at her.

She paused.

"Tell me," he barked at her.

"Because - because I needed to know if the rumours were true."

Draco's face fell. He looked utterly confused and not expecting her confession.

"Becoming a Death Eater will destroy you and you know it. I believed in you last year and I still do. You can't do this Malfoy, you're better than this if only you'd let me help you." Hermione felt her face flush after she fell silent and impatiently waited for Draco to be angry with her, to hate her even more, but, beyond all expectations, he started to laugh.

"My poor naive Granger. Did you ever stop one second to think that I might chose to follow this path?" As he spoke he revealed the black mark, which scarred his pale white skin.

"But -" Hermione started but felt herself being dragged from the chair as Draco grasped both her wrists and pulled her up.

"You're too late!" he shouted at her, as he gripped her arms and shook her vigorously.

"Of course I chose to be initiated! Of course I chose to follow Voldemort! What else was I to do? Drop my dignity and follow you and your precious Potter? Bow to your beloved Dumbledore? Tell me Granger, what exactly did you expect me to do?"

His voice rang in her ears as she restrained herself from crying. She tried to push him away from her, but she knew perfectly well it was useless. She had dreaded such a revelation and yet she had still risked hearing it. And now, all she wanted to do was run, but she couldn't, it was too late; she had to face it. She was confronted with the nightmare, which had tortured her emotionally all summer. How could he have done it?

"So that's it! You've become one of them? A Death Eater?" she spat out. "And I thought you only took orders from Purebloods!"

Her words hit Draco harder than she thought. She had touched a nerve and she knew it. She watched his eyes run through a mixture of emotions. His once mysterious soft grey eyes she had looked into last year intrigued, were now hard and darkened. They had given her the answer she had sought straight away. The initiation had hardened Draco's features and given him a darker composure. As the new Draco Malfoy, Voldemort's new Death Eater, stood before her, the resemblance with his father, Lucius, was striking.

She was sick with disgust, but Draco was not finished with her. His grip on her was still firm and Hermione knew that he was deciding what to do with her next. She dreaded the worst and could no longer restrain the tears pouring down her face. It was over; she had come too late.

However, against all hopes, the back room door opened and a sixth-year Slytherin, who Hermione recognised immediately, ran in, breathing heavily.

"Malfoy! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

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