The Devil Within.
Draco Malfoy rarely came home for the Easter holidays, but during his seventh year he found himself at home in Malfoy Manor over the holidays. His father had sent a letter asking him to return home for the holidays, so Draco had obeyed. Secretly he'd been hoping that the summons had something to do with The Dark Lord, and finally he was going to be allowed to officially join the Death Eaters.
Draco had been longing to prove himself and join the Death Eaters since Voldemort's return at the end of fourth year. He was especially keen to get in Voldemort's good graces considering the dark wizard had been residing at the manor since his return. However, while he'd met Voldemort and he seemed keen for Draco to join his followers at some point, The Dark Lord was adamant that he wasn't going to initiate Draco until he had left Hogwarts.
With only a few weeks left of school, Draco was hoping Voldemort was either going to bend the rules or give him a clue as to when he could expect to be branded. Sadly for Draco he'd been home almost a week of the two weeks holiday, and he'd yet to set eyes on the dark wizard. He knew Voldemort was still staying at the manor as Lucius had mentioned it, but so far he hadn't attended any meals or made any move to see Draco.
Although all that changed one rainy afternoon when Draco was moping in his bedroom and one of the elves appeared, informing him that Lucius wished to see him. Not expecting Voldemort to also be in the room as the elf hadn't mentioned anything, Draco headed off to his father's study and got rather a shock to find Voldemort settled in one of the chairs in front of Lucius's desk.
When he'd first returned, Voldemort had been deathly pale, bald and his face was deformed. However, the longer he was back at fully strength the more he began to look like a normal wizard. He'd regained a bit of colour in his flesh, dark brown hair now covered his head and his features were that of a very attractive wizard. The only thing that hadn't changed about him was his frightening red eyes, which were currently trained on Draco.
"My Lord," Draco greeted with a respectful bow of his head. "Father," he added, nodding at Lucius, who was standing beside the large window.
"Sit down Draco, there's a few things I wish to talk to you about," Voldemort said. "And I want you to be honest with me. I want you to say what you really think."
While Lucius settled in the chair behind his desk, Draco sat down on the chair beside Voldemort. The Dark Lord was still watching him closely and Draco suspected that how he handled the conversation would prove vital to his future as a Death Eater. As scary as it sounded just saying what he thought to Voldemort, he would do just that if it was what The Dark Lord wanted.
"As I'm sure you're aware, things have not gone according to plan upon my return," Voldemort began. "First of all, I was hoping to kill Potter the night I used him to get myself back to full strength, but he got away."
"He's always been a slippery bugger," Draco offered with a snort. "With half the things he's got up to since starting school it's a miracle he's not already dead."
"Or he's been well protected," Voldemort countered. "He's certainly been well protected since my return. I thought it would be easy to get to him, but Dumbledore seemingly has him wrapped up in cotton wool."
"Surely that means they're running scared of you," Draco said. "I despite Potter, but even I have to admit he's no coward. If he's hiding from you, he's scared. Or Dumbledore's scared and convincing him to keep his head down."
"And therein lies the problem," Voldemort said, impressed that Draco was thinking the same way he was, and the teenager had no inside intel on the Order as he did. "I'm not a patient man, and I have no intention of waiting around until Potter thinks he can take me on. I intend to draw him out into the open and kill him."
"If Dumbledore is behind him keeping quiet, it won't be easy to get him to disobey the headmaster," Draco said carefully. He didn't want to anger Voldemort, but since he asked for honesty he thought it was only fair to warn The Dark Lord what a tough task he faced.
"What makes you say that?"
"Potter thinks Dumbledore can do no wrong," Draco snorted. "He hero-worships the man. If he had half a brain, he would see that all Dumbledore has ever done is manipulate him, but Potter isn't known for his brains. Instead he would walk over hot coals for a wizard who would happily sacrifice him for the so called greater good."
"You don't have a high opinion of Potter or Dumbledore," Voldemort said with a chuckle.
"No, I don't," Draco agreed. "Should I?"
"If I said yes, would you change your mind?"
Aware that Voldemort's red eyes were watching him carefully, Draco told the truth and shook his head. His opinions were his own, and even if Voldemort himself told him that he should think higher of either Potter or Dumbledore, he wouldn't. Neither of them had done anything to deserve to be thought of with more respect, and Draco wasn't going to suddenly sing their praises.
"Good," Voldemort said with a nod. "Never change your opinions for someone else, Draco. Although for the record, I share your distaste for both Dumbledore and Potter. I also agree with your assertion that getting Potter to break cover without Dumbledore's permission is going to be hard. Which is why I was thinking we would take someone of value to him."
"You mean a kidnapping?" Draco checked.
"Indeed," Voldemort said with a nod. "And I would like your opinion on the candidates."
"Sure. Who were you thinking?"
"There's his girlfriend, the Weasley girl," Voldemort began. "And of course his best friend is the Weasley boy."
"Taking either of them would definitely rub Potter up the wrong way," Draco admitted. "But if you take them, you've got all of their family to contend with. They'll all want to save them, and it might be harder to get Potter out into the open. His family might be the ones to launch the rescue."
"I was thinking more of a trade, the kidnap victim for Potter," Voldemort said with a shrug.
"It could work," Draco conceded with a slight nod. "But I still think there's a lot of potential for things to go wrong. What you need is someone Potter will stick his neck out for, but who doesn't necessarily have a lot more people who would sacrifice themselves for them."
"And do you have someone in mind?" Voldemort asked, exchanging an amused look with Lucius as they reached the whole point of the discussion, not that Draco realised that.
"Granger," Draco answered, not noticing the look that yet again passed between his father and The Dark Lord.
"Granger?" Voldemort echoed, feigning relative ignorance.
"Hermione Granger, Potter's mudblood best friend," Draco explained. He knew Voldemort would have heard of Hermione, but more than likely he wouldn't have remembered her name.
"You think she could prove a more suitable target?" Voldemort asked.
"I do," Draco answered with a firm nod. "As a mudblood she had no family in the wizarding world. Because of her friendship with Potter, she's likely to be friendly with the Order, but I'm not sure they'd react as fiercely if she was taken rather than a Weasley."
"You don't think the Weasleys and Order would rally round to save her?"
"I do, I just don't know if they'd be as motivated to save her. It would put Potter out on his own."
"And you're sure Potter would risk everything to save her?"
"I'd bet my life on it," Draco answered. "Not only is he the hero type, but he's quite possibly the closest person to Granger. She's saved his life numerous times, and I can't see him sitting back and letting us get away with taking her. I could see him defying Dumbledore if it meant saving Granger's life."
"Interesting," Voldemort said thoughtfully, pretending to mull over what Draco was saying, even though he'd always fully intended to kidnap Hermione. "Tell me more about this girl."
"I'm not really sure I can tell you much," Draco admitted. "We don't exactly run in the same circles."
"Tell me what you do know," Voldemort urged. "Severus mentioned her before, and he said she was very smart."
"I'm not sure I would say very smart, but she's no slouch in the brains department," Draco reluctantly conceded. He hated having to admit Hermione was clever, but even he couldn't deny how smart the feisty brunette witch was.
"I heard she was top of the year," Voldemort remarked, inwardly chuckling at the look of distaste that marred Draco's features at the reminder that he was constantly beaten by a mudblood.
"Only because she spends every waking hour in the library," Draco muttered. "Fine, she's very clever," he conceded when Voldemort continued to just look at him. "She's definitely the brains behind Potter and his pet Weasel. Without her, they'd fall apart."
"So she might not be easy to snatch," Voldemort mused.
"If you're not careful she'll fight back," Draco said. "She's got a hell of a temper, and for a mudblood she's got a fairly decent grasp of her magical abilities."
"I guess the key is getting her alone," Voldemort said. "I was thinking of taking her during a Hogsmeade visit."
"That would be perfect. She's always in the bookshop and Potter and Weasley never go with her. You could take her from there."
"Does she not have a boyfriend who might interfere in our plans?" Voldemort asked.
"Hell no, Granger is as single as they come," Draco said with a derisive laugh.
"Why? Is she unattractive?"
"I don't know," Draco answered with a frown as he tried to picture Hermione clearly and found that he couldn't. "Truth be told, I've never looked at her because she's a mudblood, and a bloody annoying one at that. She's nothing but trouble, and any sane wizard would steer well clear. She's bossy little shrew, and no doubt she's so frigid she'd freeze the balls off anyone who even tried to get close to her. I've seen Weasley try and flirt with her a few times, and every time she shuts him down. Although to be fair to Granger, you'd have to be severely desperate to shag Weasley."
"And you don't think she's desperate?" Voldemort asked with an amused smirk. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lucius cringing at his son's brutal words.
"Not desperate enough to do Weasley," Draco snorted. "Why, are you planning on having someone seduce her to get your hands on her?"
"Would you be up for such a task Draco?" Voldemort asked.
Swallowing his repulsion at the mere thought of touching a mudblood, Draco gave an impassive shrug. "If that's what you require, My Lord. But I would take no pleasure from seducing such an annoying, bushy haired, know-it-all."
"Lucky for you, that's not what I had in mind," Voldemort said with a chuckle. "I am very interested in your idea of taking her from the bookshop. Thank you for your help, Draco."
"We're done here?" Draco questioned, blinking in surprise at the abrupt dismissal.
"For now," Voldemort said. "I wish to talk to your father and Severus. But if things go the way I think they will, we'll be talking again and you'll be going back to Hogwarts with a task that will prove to me that you're ready to step up and take the mark."
"I won't let you down," Draco vowed, getting to his feet. Saying goodbye to his father, he left the study feeling far happier than when he'd entered.
The second Draco was gone, Lucius turned to Voldemort, his face burning with embarrassment. He wanted to throttle his son, but there was nothing he could do as Draco had sat there and said things that would undoubtedly come back to bite him.
"I'm so sorry," he offered apologetically. "If he'd known Draco wouldn't have said half of those things."
"And that is exactly why I wanted to talk to him," Voldemort said with a low chuckle. "Because he doesn't know, his opinions were honest."
"And you don't think Severus's opinions are honest?" Lucius questioned with a frown. He knew there'd been some question marks over Severus's loyalties in the past, but he was under the impression the Potions Master had more than proven himself over the years as being loyal to the dark.
"I think what he tells me is clouded by the fact he knows the truth," Voldemort admitted. "I don't think he lies to me, but I do think he possibly sugar-coats some things as he doesn't want to anger me."
"We can safely say Draco didn't sugar-coat anything," Lucius muttered, his cheeks still burning with embarrassment at his son's words.
"No, he didn't," Voldemort agreed with a laugh. "Don't worry Lucius, I'm not mad. I asked for the truth and Draco gave it to me. I liked his candour."
"But did it help you any?" Lucius asked.
"It did," Voldemort said with a nod. "Not only do I know how we're going to grab Hermione, I also know who's going to do it for us."
"Draco," Lucius guessed.
"Yes, it's time to see what your son is made of, Lucius," Voldemort said. "I want him to deliver Hermione Granger into my waiting hands."
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Draco returned to school eager to get on with the task The Dark Lord had entrusted him with. After their first talk, Voldemort had called him back into his father's study a couple of days later and informed him that it was his responsibility to snatch Hermione from Hogsmeade. Voldemort had laid the entire task on Draco's shoulders and he'd informed him to send word to Lucius once he'd finalised the plan, and not to be afraid to ask if he needed help.
Before the holidays were even over, Draco had the bare bones of a plan and once back at school he spent his time ironing out the kinks. Two Hogsmeade visits in a row, he'd blown off his friends and covertly watched Hermione and her friends, getting a feel for their movements and when would be the perfect opportunity to strike. Once he'd confirmed that the bookshop would be the best place to take her from, Draco had sat down and wrote down his entire plan, including all the help he would need from his father and owled it to Lucius.
Lucius was quick to write back, informing Draco that everything he asked for was in hand and all Draco now had to do was set the day and send word that the plan was in motion. Draco settled for the penultimate Hogsmeade trip of the year to strike, but before he could do anything else he first had to get his friends onside and make them swear to give him an alibi.
"What are you up to Draco?" Blaise Zabini asked when Draco gathered his friends in the privacy of the boy's dorms and asked them to swear to anyone who asked that he was with them the entire day.
"I can't say, but I need you to do this for me," Draco answered. "It's important."
"Important as in, you're getting your leg over, or important as in it's got something to do with The Dark Lord?" Theo Nott questioned.
"This has nothing to do with sex," Draco retorted with a roll of his grey eyes.
"So it's something to do with The Dark Lord?" Pansy Parkinson asked eagerly.
"Yes," Draco admitted. "So can I count on my friends to back me up? Will you all swear I was with you all day?"
"We'll back you up," Blaise promised. "Although we're going to have to work out the logistics. We can't just say you were with us in case someone noticed that you weren't and points it out."
"I was thinking you could keep splitting up," Draco said. "That way it's virtually impossible for anyone to say I wasn't with you. Say they see Blaise and Theo and I wasn't with them, then I was with Pansy and Daphne. If I wasn't with them, I was with Vince and Greg. I'm just going to need a precise run down of your day so I don't mess up if I'm questioned. Also try not to draw attention to yourselves. Most people are so wrapped up in their own lives that they won't notice you unless you attract attention in some way."
"We can do that," Theo said. "I just hope all this deception is going to be worth it."
"Oh, it's worth it all right," Draco replied with a sly grin.
"Won't you give us a clue about what you're doing?" Daphne Greengrass asked, eager for gossip.
"No clues, Daph," Draco laughed. "But you'll soon find out what I'm doing come the weekend. Believe me, you'll know what I've done when you hear about it."
Draco refused to be drawn any further of the topic and his friends eagerly waited for Hogsmeade day to see just what their friend had up his sleeve.
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On the morning of the Hogsmeade visit, Draco had breakfast with his friends and the entire group of seventh years walked down to the village together. In fact Draco stayed with his friends for a couple of hours, before he spotted Hermione and her friends arriving in the village. The second he caught sight of Hermione, he quietly slipped away from his friends and making sure he wasn't seen he stalked the brunette Gryffindor from the shadows of the shops of Hogsmeade.
An hour into his observation, Hermione parted ways with her friends. While the two boys went into Honeydukes, Hermione crossed the street and entered the bookshop. Draco waited nearly five minutes before sliding into the shop, giving the wizard manning the front desk a subtle nod as he did so. Stealthily moving through the shelves, he found Hermione browsing through the historical fiction section. He watched her for a couple of minutes, making sure no-one else was around before pulling out his wand and silently slipping into the aisle behind her.
"Don't make a sound," he whispered in a low voice as he pressed the wood of his wand into Hermione's neck.
"Malfoy?" Hermione questioned in a shocked voice as she froze at the feeling of a wand pressed against her skin.
"I told you not to speak, Granger," Draco growled. "Shut up before I make you."
"I'd like to see you try," Hermione muttered defiantly.
"Really?" Draco asked with a low, dangerous laugh. "My wand is pressed right against your neck. I can cast any number of curses before you can even reach your wand. Don't be stupid Granger, and you'll not get hurt."
"Why don't I believe you?" Hermione snapped, her fingers inching towards her wand that was tucked in her pocket.
"I'm not joking Granger," Draco spat, slapping at Hermione's hand. "For once in your life, shut up and do as you're told."
"And why should I?" Hermione demanded. "You're going to hurt me anyway, so I might as well fight. Besides, I bet I can scream before you can curse me."
"And who's going to help you?" Draco chuckled. "The owner has so very kindly emptied out the shop for me when I entered. The same man unlocked the back entrance to the shop so no-one will see us leave."
"This was planned," Hermione gasped. "You're not going to attack me, you're trying to kidnap me."
"I always knew you were smart, Granger," Draco said with another low chuckle. "Now move. Turn to your right and walk towards the back of the shop. If you as much as reach for your wand, I'll stun you and drag you out of here by your hair."
"You wouldn't dare," Hermione spat as she slowly turned and began to walk just as Draco had ordered. "You'll regret this, Malfoy."
"I don't think so," Draco replied smugly, forcing Hermione to continue her walk to the back of the shop.
As they went he could see her looking around for help, but there was none. Chances were there weren't many students in the bookshop anyway, but those that had been in had been evacuated by the owner. Draco wasn't sure how Lucius had gotten the owner to co-operate with them, but the important thing was that he was. Not only had he cleared the way for Draco to snatch Hermione, but he wouldn't breathe a word about the blond Slytherin ever being in the bookshop.
When they reached the door at the very back of the shop, Draco forced Hermione to open it and step into the alley behind. The second she was out of the shop, Hermione turned on her heel and ran to her right. However, Draco was prepared for an attempted escape from the feisty witch and Hermione ran directly into the solid form of his father and tumbled onto the floor.
"Shit," Hermione gasped, looking up at the two Malfoy men who hovered over her.
"How eloquent," Lucius sneered. "Well done Draco, The Dark Lord will be very impressed."
"It was easy," Draco replied. "Turns out Granger wasn't quite as smart as me."
"Today you might have gotten the better of me, but never again," Hermione vowed as Lucius hauled her to her feet and kept a tight grip of her arm. "Next time, I win."
"There isn't going to be a next time," Draco laughed. "We've won, Granger. You're in our hands now, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Git," Hermione snapped, her brown eyes flashing angrily at the smug blond in front of her.
Laughing at Hermione's useless show of temper, Draco watched as his father whisked her away to the safety of the manor before they were spotted. With Lucius and Hermione safely away from Hogsmeade, Draco crept back out of the alley and finding his friends, he re-joined them as though he'd been with them all day. After quickly being brought up to speed with what he'd missed, Draco effortlessly melded into the group and they had a great day.
It wasn't until they returned to Hogwarts that rumours started circulating about Hermione going missing. Of course Draco's friends knew instantly that he was behind her disappearance, but they couldn't mention it where people could hear. Instead they acted dumb and answered every question that came their way. Unsurprisingly Harry and Ron tried to blame the Slytherins, in particularly Draco, but the group swore they'd been together all day and without proof that they'd done anything wrong they couldn't be forced to give their memories over for examination or to take veritiserum. In the end, Death Eaters were blamed for Hermione's disappearance and Draco finished the school year without suspicion ever really falling on his shoulders.
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Draco returned home at the end of the year, eager to get some praise from Voldemort, but almost the first thing he learned upon his arrival at the manor was that The Dark Lord had gone away on business and wasn't due back for a couple of weeks. Disappointed that his meeting with Voldemort would have to wait, Draco headed to his bedroom in despondency. However, when he entered the bedroom which had been his since he was ten years old, he almost had a heart attack as he found Hermione Granger sprawled over his bed.
Or at least he thought it was Hermione. The witch in question had long brunette hair, but it seemed darker than normal and it was certainly a lot tamer. The baggy clothes he was used to seeing Hermione in were also gone, and the witch on his bed was wearing skin tight black trousers and a blood red vest top which showed off spectacular curves.
"Cat got your tongue, Malfoy?" Hermione purred as she stood up from the bed.
"What are you doing in here, Granger?" Draco spat. As soon as she'd spoken, he knew he was talking to the witch he'd kidnapped only weeks earlier.
"Exploring," Hermione replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "Lucius told me to make myself at home."
"Father said what?" Draco exploded. "You're a sodding prisoner, you should be down in the dungeons."
"Poor Draco, has no-one told you yet?" Hermione laughed. "I'm not a prisoner."
"You are, I kidnapped you myself," Draco argued.
"You did, and a very impressive kidnapping it was by the way," Hermione replied.
"So what? You've turned traitor?" Draco questioned with a disbelieving snort. "I don't buy it, Hermione Granger is the ultimate good girl."
"She is," Hermione agreed with a nod. "Hermione Granger is definitely a good girl, but I'm not Hermione Granger."
"Of course you are," Draco snapped. "Sexy clothes don't change who you are. You're still the same girl I went to school with for seven years."
"I am, and I'm not," Hermione said. "Physically I'm the same person you went to school with, but now the good girl persona is gone. Now I can be myself."
"And just who might that be?" Draco asked, looking at Hermione as though she was mad. Although that was actually what he was thinking and he was wondering how to restrain her until he could send for his father to deal with the deranged prisoner they'd landed themselves with.
"Hermione Riddle," Hermione answered with a wicked grin. "Daughter of The Dark Lord," she added when Draco didn't immediately react to her name.
At Hermione's revelation it was as though time froze for Draco and in his head he recalled every single thing he'd said about Hermione to Voldemort. Aside from admitting she was clever, not one thing he'd said had been complimentary. He'd well and truly slagged Hermione off in front of her father, and now here she was in his bedroom looking thoroughly amused as his normally pale complexion turned a deathly shade of white.
"Shit," Draco swore, slumping down on his bed and holding his head on his hands as he thought about what sort of trouble he was going to be in, not just with Hermione but with The Dark Lord. "I had no idea," he whispered, looking up at a smirking Hermione in horror.
"I know," Hermione replied with a grin. "Fun wasn't it?"
"Fun isn't the word I would use," Draco muttered.
"How was it you described me?" Hermione asked teasingly as she sat herself down next to Draco. "An annoying, bushy haired, know-it-all, I think my father said."
"Bloody hell," Draco whispered, seeing his young life flash before his eyes.
"Lighten up Draco," Hermione laughed, nudging the blond in the ribs. "You didn't know who I was. No-one is offended by what you said."
"I bet your father was," Draco grumbled.
"He found it amusing," Hermione replied with a shrug.
"He thought it was amusing that I insulted his daughter right to his face?" Draco queried, convinced that Hermione was winding him up and was going to turn on him at any moment.
"Yes," Hermione replied, nodding her head. "He likes people telling him the truth, and he respected you for doing so. Although it also proved to him how good a job I've been doing. He was thrilled that you hadn't seen through my act and spotted the devil within."
"It was a bloody good act," Draco muttered. "Especially when I was kidnapping you. Did you know what was going on?"
"Not until you put your wand to my neck," Hermione admitted. "Father had told me he was getting me away from the Order before the end of school, but he wouldn't say how. He wanted my reaction to be genuine. I have to admit, you really had me in a tight spot. You'd left me no way to fight to freedom."
"I knew it was the only way to get hold of you," Draco confessed. "I knew that if I gave you even a sliver of a chance to escape, you would take it."
"I would have," Hermione confirmed. "But luckily you managed it and now I'm free."
"And what about Potter?" Draco asked. "I thought this was all to get hold of him."
"It is," Hermione confirmed. "We'll use my kidnapping as a way to draw Harry out of the Order's protection. He doesn't know the truth about me, so he'll do anything in his power to save me."
"So what happens until then?" Draco questioned. "I'm assuming we can't do anything until The Dark Lord returns."
"We've got some time on our hands," Hermione replied, throwing Draco a sexy smile. "I thought we could get to know one another. I'm interested in hearing more of what you think of me."
"You might not be angry, but you're never going to let me forget what I said, are you?" Draco groaned as he lay back on the bed.
"Nope," Hermione answered as she laughing joined Draco lying over his bed. "So come on Malfoy, what else did you say about me?"
Lying on his bed, Draco confessed to Hermione everything he'd said to her father, hoping that she was true to her word and wasn't secretly mad at him. Fortunately Hermione hadn't lied and neither she nor Voldemort held Draco's words against him. In fact his honesty endeared him to the pair of them, and by the time Voldemort returned, Draco and Hermione were getting very friendly. Draco may have spent seven years not knowing the real Hermione, but he was enjoying getting to know the real her now, and he was determined to do everything he could to help her and her father bring down the Order and rule the wizarding world.