Life at Hogwarts seemed to quieten down after Dumbledore's departure. Harry and Ron were clearly not happy with the headmaster being forced to leave earlier than originally planned, but it did seem that they'd finally learnt their lesson about antagonising the Slytherins. The pair didn't say one word to Hermione and her friends, and as much as possible they avoided the Slytherins.
"You know, these last few weeks have been a bit too quiet for my liking," Blaise remarked as the Slytherins arrived at Hogsmeade station to board the train that would take them home for the Christmas holidays. "Potter and Weasley haven't said a word, and they've even being ignoring our taunts. It's as though someone's sucked out all of their fight."
"Or someone's warned them not to retaliate," Hermione countered. "My guess is that Dumbledore spoke to them before his departure and warned them to keep away from us."
"Even so, it's hard to believe they've managed to stick to it," Draco said as he casually threw his arm over Hermione's shoulder. "Neither of them are known for their patience, or their ability to turn the other cheek."
"It won't last forever," Hermione predicted. "They only had to get through a couple of weeks. They couldn't have lasted if the holidays had been further away."
"I wonder what they'll be like when we come back in January," Theo mused.
"I guess that'll depend on what happens over the holidays," Hermione replied, lowering her voice so only her friends could hear her. "Father did say he had a plan for Christmas. He was hoping it would be the end of Dumbledore, but depending what his plan is, it might affect Harry and the rest of the Order."
"Do you still have no idea what's about to happen?" Blaise checked.
"Nope, father is keeping his cards close to his chest," Hermione answered with a shrug. "But I'll find out soon enough. I'll make him tell me once I'm back home."
"I bet you will as well," Theo chuckled. "You're pretty intimidating when you want to be."
"And when have I ever intimidated you?" Hermione asked Theo.
"How about the time you got me to confess that your father had tasked, Draco, Blaise and I to look out for you," Theo shot back.
"That was not intimidating. You backed down with one fierce glare," Hermione laughed.
"One fierce glare from the daughter of The Dark Lord," Theo defended. "Anyone would have admitted the truth."
"Blaise and I would have held out for longer than you," Draco informed his friend.
"As if," Theo snorted. "Hermione has you wrapped around her little finger. You'd break in a second."
"Are you implying I'm scared of my own girlfriend?" Draco demanded as the group started to board the train.
Chuckling as the boys continued to bicker, Hermione linked arms with Daphne and the two girls found an available compartment. When the boys entered they were still bickering, but Hermione silenced them by clearing her throat and giving them all a stern glare.
"Now that is impressive," Daphne laughed as all the boys immediately settled down on their seats and stopped bickering.
"There are some perks to being the daughter of the darkest wizard that ever lived," Hermione laughed. "Only a fool would want to make me angry."
"And Hogwarts has it's fair share of fools," Draco remarked, looking up as Pansy walked past the compartment, not even bothering to try and join them. Already Pansy had accepted she was a pariah among her fellow Slytherins and she just kept her head down and tried to get through every day.
Shortly after Pansy passed their compartment, two more of the fools Draco had been referring to passed in the form of Harry and Ron. Neither teenager said anything, but they both shot hateful glances into the compartment and Hermione could see the latent anger shimmering in their eyes. They might have gone quiet, but they were still a threat and Hermione hoped that whatever had father had planned over the holidays, it would affect Harry and Ron and hopefully dim the threat they still presented to her.
As the train journey got under way and The Hogwarts Express started to make its way back to London, talk turned to the upcoming holidays and how they were each going to celebrate Christmas. Hermione joined in the conversation and all thoughts of Harry and Ron were driven from her mind for a few hours.
Around halfway into the journey, Hermione left the compartment to use the bathroom and upon passing the witch with the sweet trolley she treated herself to a small bag of mint imperials. Deciding to take a few moments for herself, Hermione popped a mint imperial into her mouth and stood at one of the large windows, watching the countryside whizz past. She must have been standing watching the scenery for almost ten minutes before she felt eyes on her. At first she thought it was Draco watching her as she could almost feel the desire pulsing off whoever was watching her, but when she subtly raised her eyes she spotted Harry standing a few meters away.
Hermione was caught off guard by the way in which Harry was watching her and her head automatically turned towards him. The second it did so, Harry's expression changed to one of distaste, but he hadn't been quick enough to hide his initial reaction to her. Harry was obviously attracted to her, and it amused Hermione to think that despite hating her so much he'd tried to kill her, he still lusted after her as well.
"Harry," she purred in amusement. "Can I help you?"
"No you cannot," Harry replied sharply. "You're in my way. I was heading back down that way."
"I'm not stopping you," Hermione said, gesturing to the corridor and indicating that there was ample room to pass her. "You could have passed by me without me even noticing, so why stop and stare?"
"I wasn't staring," Harry snapped.
"It looked like it from where I'm standing," Hermione replied with a slight chuckle. "You looked rather entranced. That must drive you mad."
"What?" Harry frowned, not understanding what Hermione meant.
"Hating me, but lusting after me at the same time," Hermione said. "What desire is stronger, Harry? The desire to see me dead, or the desire to see me naked?"
"I have no desire to see you naked," Harry snarled. "You disgust me."
"You keep telling yourself that and maybe one day you'll believe it," Hermione chuckled. "Although I do have one question. Have you always fancied me, or is it just since I started taking more of an effort with my appearance? I was by your side for four years, yet I never saw you looking at me like the way you've just been doing. But yet I make more of an effort, and there you are, panting after me like some shallow little boy."
"You call me shallow," Harry said with a bark of laughter. "You should take a look at your own boyfriend before you start throwing around allegations. Did Malfoy ever pay you any attention before last year? He wasn't interested in you before. He didn't even notice you, Hermione."
"I should hope not, I was playing the part of a muggleborn," Hermione replied with a shrug. "If he had noticed me then he wouldn't be the sort of wizard I'd want to be involved with. But you were different. My blood shouldn't have made a difference to you. But you just didn't notice me, I was invisible to you."
"No, you weren't," Harry whispered. "I always thought you were pretty. Although I do have to wonder why you didn't make the effort before. You're naturally pretty, so it can't take too much effort to look the way you do."
"It doesn't really," Hermione admitted. "But it was better for me to be invisible. It was easier for me if I just blended into the background. It stopped things getting complicated with you and Ron."
"You mean it stopped us getting too close to you," Harry snorted. "What's wrong Hermione, were you scared you actually might like us and realise how wrong it was to use us the way you did? Is that why you kept us at arms length, to stop yourself from feeling something for us?"
"It wouldn't have mattered how close I'd gotten to you, I still never would have felt anything for you, Harry," Hermione said with a shrug. "You're my enemy. We were born to be on opposite sides. All we were ever going to be was enemies."
"It could have been different," Harry said gently. "You were my friend, Hermione."
"But you were never mine," Hermione retorted. "I used you, Harry. You helped keep me safe from Dumbledore's prying eyes."
"You're not safe any-more, you're now out in the open for everyone to see," Harry warned. "And people will see your true colours sooner or later, Hermione. You can't hide behind the good girl act forever. It just won't work."
"You're right, soon it'll be time to embrace who I am," Hermione retorted. "And soon it will be time for you to decide who you are."
"I know who I am," Harry insisted. "I'm the one whose going to bring you and your father down. Just watch, we'll get you Hermione."
"I wouldn't be too cocky if I were you," Hermione warned. "You never know what's around the corner, and you never know when you'll find yourself all alone. Tell me Harry, could you really take me and my father on all by yourself?"
"I'm not all by myself," Harry replied. "I've got Dumbledore, I've got the Weasleys, I've got the Order, and more importantly I've got friends."
"Friends who you've managed to alienate these last few months," Hermione chuckled. "How many of them will stand with you when you need them the most? I guess we'll find out soon enough, won't we Harry? And just for the record, I'm not alone either. I've got my father, his Death Eaters and my friends. I guess only time will tell who has the strongest team, but my money isn't on you, Harry."
"Well mine is," Harry said confidently. "You warned me not to get too cocky, but from where I'm standing, the cocky one is you. Watch out Hermione, we're coming for you and I don't intend to lose."
"Neither do I," Hermione retorted. Before Harry could move, Hermione stunned him by moving forward and giving him a peck on the cheek. "Let the games begin, Harry," she whispered in his ear as she sauntered past him and headed back to her friends without a backwards glance.
Unsure of what exactly had just happened, Harry also returned to his friends, a feeling of dread slowly building inside him. Even though Hermione hadn't said as much, he sensed that a new plan was afoot from the dark. But only time would tell what exactly it was, and how badly it was going to hurt the Order. Harry just hoped that whenever the next move came, the Order were ready and for once it was the dark that ended up the losers.
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As she'd informed her friends she would, Hermione set out to find out about her father's plans for Christmas the second she arrived home. Not that it was easy as her father hadn't been around when she and her mother had arrived home and when he did come home it was dinner time and he insisted that Hermione tell him about her term as they ate. Normally Hermione would have quickly rattled off what she'd done over the past few months, but there was so much to tell that she was talking throughout the entire meal and entertaining her parents with her tales of revenge on Harry and Ron.
"And now you can tell me what you've been up to," Hermione demanded once she'd finished bringing her parents up to date and they'd moved into the front room.
"Not a lot," Voldemort remarked with a shrug.
"Daddy," Hermione whined, refraining from stomping her foot like a spoiled brat. "You gave me until Christmas to play with Harry and Ron, and you implied you had big plans for the holidays."
"I do have big plans," Voldemort admitted with a slow smirk. "And since you've been so ingenious with Potter and Weasley, I'll tell you about my plans."
"To kill Dumbledore?" Hermione checked.
"He's my main target," Voldemort confirmed. "But I do have another motive as well."
"What?"
"For the last few months I've been arranging for a large scale attack to take place at the Ministry of Magic's Christmas party," Voldemort announced. "I have the location and a plan to gain access to the party already sorted. Everyone who is important to the running of Wizarding Britain will be there."
"What does that have to do with Dumbledore?" Hermione questioned with a confused frown. "He doesn't work for the Ministry."
"No, but he is a regular at the party," Voldemort replied. "A lot of invites go out to important members of the public who don't actually work at the Ministry."
"But surely Dumbledore won't get an invite this year," Hermione argued. "His invite would have been because he's headmaster of Hogwarts, but he no longer holds that position."
"You're right, his invite from the Ministry won't be sent this year, which is why I'm going to send him an invite myself," Voldemort replied. "Dumbledore will think it's from the Ministry, and he'll think it's because Fudge is still on his side."
"But he's not, he's on ours isn't he?" Hermione checked.
"Cornelius Fudge is a pathetic little worm, and I wouldn't trust the man as far as I could throw him," Voldemort snorted. "I've pretty much had him over a barrel since my return, but if he honestly thought he could manage it, he'd have me arrested and locked up in an instant. I won't get any real power until I depose him."
"You're going to replace him as Minister?" Hermione asked. "Who with?"
"Why, myself of course," Voldemort returned with a smirk. "The party will mark the end of Fudge's regime. If he does survive the party, he'll be booted out of office, as will anyone else who opposes me. We've delayed long enough, Hermione. It's time to take what's ours. By the time you go back to Hogwarts in the New Year, you'll be the daughter of the Minister of Magic and you'll be untouchable. I should have done this earlier Hermione, and I'm sorry that it's taken nearly losing you to spurn me into action."
"You did what you thought was best for me," Hermione said. "I understand why you wanted to keep things civil while I was still at Hogwarts. We weren't to know Harry, Ron and Pansy would attack the way they did."
"No, I wasn't to know," Voldemort agreed with a slight incline of his head. "But they won't get the chance to do so again. With me as Minister and Severus as Headmaster, I'm fairly sure you'll be safe. And with Dumbledore gone the Order will crumble and be no threat to us."
"Don't underestimate the Order," Hermione cautioned, recalling Harry's earlier warning of being too cocky. "Let's not look too far ahead. Focus on the party, and wait and see how things play out there. Even once you're Minister we might still face threats, and if we do, we need to be ready for them. I don't want to win the battle, only to lose the war because we were over confident."
"You're right," Voldemort said with a proud chuckle. "Pride comes before a fall. And I should bloody well know given what happened to me. Let's take this a step at a time, and not declare victory until we're sure all of our enemies are vanquished. But we take the first step next week, Hermione. Let's make this a Christmas to remember."