Disclaimer: I have no rights and this is done simply for fun. All characters belong to ms J.K.

Malfoy couldn't sleep. He couldn't figure out exactly who he could trust anymore. His father had been a hard-ass but the man had always been on his side. He had trusted Pansy and never been let down. Aside from that he had never trusted anyone. The truth was the he had never thought he would ever feel this way. He always prided himself on being independent, on not needing anyone.

'What the bloody hell is wrong with you?' he asked himself.

He sat up and walked to the window. Malfoy hadn't expected peace and quiet, he had never imagined he wouldn't have to fight to remain where he was- but right now he honestly never expected the pressure he felt.

'What the hell is wrong with you? You're acting like prat' he chided himself.

It's not like he had ever truly trusted Voldemort, the way his father had, and perhaps that's what made his situation so precarious. He was a servant of a man whom he did not trust. True, the old crow had delivered on his promises, but he also knew how easily he could replace any of them. There were no loyalties amongst death eaters and that is why he had a dark mark on his arm- to make it easy to supervise him.

He would go to Blaise with this information. Rockwood had to be working with some of the older ones, if any at all. Anyone who would want Malfoy to lose face was going to be suspect. He had a plan now, and it set him at ease. He was going to have to deal with the deadline calmly; tomorrow he had to make sure to play it right. Tomorrow he had to make sure he could take the upper hand and not let Granger keep wiping the floor with him- cause quite honestly that's what she had been doing.

Malfoy smiled to himself, amused at the turn of events.

Early Morning:

"The spell that you used on the D.A. members, remember?" Malfoy asked Granger. "To spot someone who betrayed your secret meetings"

"You could have freed him" she mumbled.

"Oh, come-on Granger, it was a house elf" Malfoy sneered.

Dobby was dead, still trapped in the ice. He could tell she had tried to chip away at the block, tried to free him. For a moment, for half a second, he felt bad for Granger.

"I have to erase your memory" Malfoy announced. "I have to obliviate you" he shrugged matter of factly turning to face her.

She watched him, but said nothing for a few seconds.

"You're going to erase me. Make me nothing, you will get your wish after all" she sighed. "You're going to turn me into your puppet"

He sat down on the edge of the window. His eyes were on the wand in his hands, and then they shifted to Granger. Her eyes were unfocused; she smiled at some memory that had just crossed into her mind. Was she trying to enjoy those wonderful things one last time, before they were gone forever? Suddenly she looked up at him. Malfoy blinked and looked away, he had been caught off guard, left himself open and her eyes had penetrated right through him.

"You don't want to do it, do you?" she sat up. "You bargained for a few days with me, to violate my mind, to pick up on my secrets and life. You'd figure you'd be satiated, bored. You bore quickly"

He stood up without answering.

"But you're not bored of me yet" she whispered. "There would be nothing to torture, there would be no fun left for you"

"I will do my best to deal with the loss" he said walking back towards her.

"I can offer you an oath" she stated quickly watching the wand as he shifted it in his hand. "I know you need help. I know you keep coming here for spells that you don't know how to control. I can help you keep your place in power. I won't help you against my friends but I can help you against my enemies"

It had sounded too much like begging to her. Her voice had been scared and high pitched. Malfoy was not going to win. He was never going to make her beg for anything, no matter what cost.

"Fine, go ahead, obliviate me! It will be great not to feel the pain and loss I feel. I will be an empty slave and you can make up stories about my past, but for all you know I won't like you, no matter how much you lie. I mean Nott is pretty cute and he's trying to climb up the ladder, all of you will be the same to me…"

"We started dating 6th year. Potter and Weasel were so jealous of everything I had…of me…" he said. "You were crazy over me and dumped Potter…"

"Oh please" she rolled her eyes.

"You better start memorizing this" he told her. "Because if we're discovered, we're both dead"

"What?"

"And I will instate a life bind. You will owe me your life" he told her. "And help me in any way I ask you to"

"You're not going to obliviate me?" she asked.

"Why erase your suffering?" he shrugged. "I haven't broken you yet and I never fail to reach my goals. Plus, just because I haven't tired of you, doesn't mean I never will. I am not good at doing what I'm told to do when it's not what I want" he cocked an eyebrow and gave her a mischievous smile. "Guess the Dark Lord will have to learn that the hard way"

"You will give me Ronald" she stated. "You will help him escape"

"You're mad" he dismissed.

"That's fine, Slytherin, if that's your choice. You can't bind me to you without my consent and you can't make sure I won't give you spells that won't back fire on you"

He pointed his wand at her.

"Malfoy, it will no longer be me" she breathed staring into his silver eyes.

"A binding oath" he said. "You will bind yourself to me in exchange for your life"

"And Ronald's" she added.

He nodded.

"So you better start learning to forget your life and learning my lies. The Dark Lord wants an audience with you tonight" he smiled. "He finds this whole situation rather amusing…a muggle-born acting like a pureblood-mudblood hater"

"I want to see them, Malfoy" she whispered standing up, staring into his silver eyes.

Evening: Malfoy Manor

Hermione soothed her crimson dress again. She was nervous. Would Voldemort be able to tell? Would she be able to bear seeing Harry and Ron? Had that been a mistake? No, she had to know they were still alive, she had to see them.

"My Lord, may I present my fiancée Miss Hermione Granger" Malfoy announced proudly in the room, bowing to Voldemort.

Hermione bowed also.

"Miss Granger, so good to see that you are doing well. Young Mr. Malfoy has been worried" he told her kissing her hand.

"I would like to thank you for helping me Lord Voldemort, Draco told me you are the reason we are all alive. I am grateful you had enough strength to fight against the Order" she smiled.

"Thank you, Miss Granger. Young Malfoy informed me you wanted to see your assailants" he told her.

Hermione nodded bravely.

Voldemort turned and led them to the next room. Hermione cast Malfoy a terrified glance. His eyes were like ice- she had asked for this; there would be no comfort from him. She had to be as cold as he was. She stiffened her back and made her way forward taking Malfoy's arm.

Harry and Ronald were chained to a wall. Their hands were in metal cuffs. Their bodies looked bruised and battered, as did their faces and their eyes.

"Mione!" Ron saw her first.

Hermione tensed.

"My love, these are the men who erased your memory when they tried to kill us" Malfoy told her and kissed her cheek. Hermione met their eyes.

"Hermione?" Harry barely mumbled.

She could feel the tears rising to her eyes. Blinking them away she surprised herself by not feeling anything. It took all her strength and she knew it would not last, everything that mattered to her was here and all she wanted to do was run to them, to embrace them. The only way to save them, though, was for her to be strong and she was amazed at the strength and courage she was able to muster for those she loved. She was amazed by how fearless they made her.

"You bastard! Malfoy! I'm going to kill you!" Ronald cried and thrashed against his shackles, pulling like a wild wounded beast. "Hermione, you were mine!" he sobbed. "I love you and you loved me!"

"Mione, you have to remember!" Harry looked at her. "Mione, look at me!"

Hermione pulled her eyes away. From the corner of her eyes she saw Harry hang his head forward, defeated.

"Silencio" Voldemort cast a spell on them and now their mouths were covered by a black vine that wrapped around their neck.

"We will execute the red-headed one to commemorate our defeat of the opposition" Voldemort announced.

"Oh, no" she cried. She caught herself, when everyone in the room stared at her. "I feel nothing but pity for them. Draco told me he was misguided by this one" she pointed her finger at Harry. "Lord, this red-headed boy is a pureblood, surely we can spare his existence"

"Ah, my dear Hermione. They might have taken your memories but they have not taken your kind and compassionate heart" Draco took her hand and embraced her. "My love, these two took so much from us. You don't even remember the day I proposed to you in the Great Hall at our school" he smiled glancing cruelly at Ron.

Ron thrashed in his binds, muffled cries from his covered mouth.

"You're right darling, some things don't deserve to be forgiven" she whispered weakly. Draco had pulled her out of that one. He had given her the opportunity to reposition herself, she could not be ungrateful by not taking his help.

Draco pulled her closer to the two captives as Voldemort lost interest and moved towards his chair. He wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"She is mine, now and forever and you will never be able to touch her again" Draco stared into Harry's eyes.

Hermione saw Ronald turn to face Harry, a questioning look in his eyes. Harry broke the stare with Draco and looked back at Ron. The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out. Ron's face slowly revealed a deeper pain as he realized what had happened between the two. Harry looked away when a tear slipped down Ron's cheek. Draco laughed. He nuzzled Hermione's neck lustily. "I love the way she holds her breath in a gasp when she's about to cum, but then again, both of you already know that" he smirked.

Draco turned her to him. He kissed her passionately, touching her body in a possessive way. Hermione bit his tongue, brutally. Draco snapped back as calmly as he could, swallowing the blood- his eyes warning her.

"The two of you are invited to our wedding" he finished. "Come along my love" he pulled her.

Hermione gave them one last look. Harry looked up, something in his eyes lit up. Did he see her? Did he recognize the fact that she was still there. Her eyes shifted to Ron who was now pulling against his chains in a subdued hopeless way. He just wanted to hold her again, she could read it in his face- Ronald, Ronald, I love you. But he could not see, he did not see her the way Harry did and this crushed her, because Harry could know her in a way Ronald never could.