A/N: Hey I'm gonna be slowing down posts for a bit, I have a lot of irl stuff happening soon and I don't want my fics to suffer. I have some chapters already written for both, but once those are done I'm not going to be posting until I can be sure they're decent.


When they reached the large room where the Death Eaters had gathered Hermione walked with her chin up. Eyes forward, no wandering. Out of her peripheral vision she could see it was a celebration. Bodies were hung in stasis in the air. She refused to look at them. Voldemort watched her approach with a mild entertainment, his chin resting on his wand hand, which he held loosely in his fingers. As she approached some death eaters quieted to watch the scene that was bound to unfold.

"Ahh…" Voldemort sighed, smiling as he opened an arm in greeting. "Miss Granger-"

"Hermione." She interrupted with no intonation. Walls up. She turned dead eyes onto his face. "Let's not pretend you have any respect for me." Mutters rose up as more Death Eaters decided to pay attention. She kept her eyes on his snakiness.

"But I do respect you, Miss Granger." He said grandly. He stood with a flourish. Drama queen. "The brains behind The Chosen One. The Queen of Dumbledore's Army!" Chuckles rose up around them at his mocking tone. 'Tortured by my most devoted servant, yet here you stand. Competent and alive."

"A slur carved into my arm hardly counts as torture." She scoffed at it.

"But you were tortured before the knife-"

"Barty Crouch Jr. taught us to fight it when he was pretending to be Moody." She said, purposely interrupting him. She heard a gasp to her right. Eyes forward.

"She dares to interrupt our Lord!" An offended shriek followed. Voldemort only looked entertained, a smile curving up the corners of his mouth.

"Do not fret, my pet. She must maintain the ground she has." He stepped down and towards her. Slow, sure steps. Made to draw attention from the few Death Eaters who still ignored them. She felt the jab of someone trying to push against her walls and rolled her eyes. As if.

"Interesting, Miss Granger. That I cannot see into your mind so easily."

"Harry was seeing your thoughts, I assumed it was best to learn how to keep you out."

"And where-" He stepped up to her at last, facing her down. "Did you learn so well?"

"Books." He laughed in her face but she didn't flinch. "And a lot of practice. You'll only see what I want you to see."

"And do you have something for me to see?" He asked the question against her mental walls. He sounded entertained by her. She wanted to wipe that smile off his face.

His diary with a basilisk fang as his words oozed out of it.

The ring Dumbledore had worn, destroyed by Gryffindor's sword.

The locket in the forest, destroyed by Ron.

The cup in the Chamber of Secrets.

Fiendfyre burning up Ravenclaw's diadem.

"Enough Mudblood-" He hissed, stepping away.

"Funny, coming from you." She said matter-of -factly. A murmur rose up around them. She held his reptilian gaze and let a smirk play up the corner of her mouth. "Son of a squib and a muggle. Who's blood is dirtier?"

She watched as his jovial face, laughing at her cheek, dropped into a dark glare. She waited for the crucio that would contort her body. But it didn't come. Instead he slapped her face hard enough to make her stumble. She quickly stood as it echoed through the now-silent room.

"That's the worst the Dark Lord has for me?" She sneered. "I've been hit harder by muggle children." He slapped her other cheek and she laughed in his face. She felt maniacal. What was he gonna do? Kill her?

"Did I offend you, Tom? Spilling secrets that the heir of Slytherin is nothing but a halfblood orphan?" He snarled at her and raised his wand but Bellatrix had come forward.

"My lord! Let me rid you of this filth!"

"Oh please, you couldn't break me the first time!" Hermione turned on the other witch. Head up, hold the gaze. She's just a crazy old bat. "Dark Lord's right hand and she couldn't break a teenage girl! So desperate for information she told us where the cup was!"

"Silence you filthy-" Bellatrix screamed at her but Hermione didn't stop.

"We got into your vault with your own wand and then we destroyed the cup too! You let us do that!"

Suddenly Voldemort's wand was pressed against her throat.

"Silence!"

"Make me." His eyes narrowed on her.

"You're awfully brave for someone who's about to die."

"I have nothing to lose." She sneered quietly at him. "You've got the ministry. You've got the school. Dumbledore is dead. Harry is dead. So why shouldn't I be a big, loud pain in your ugly snake butt?"

"There are worse things than death." He muttered at her, but Hermione smirked.

"Then why are you so scared of dying?"


A/N: So lemme know what you think of a nothing-to-lose Hermione ^^ tbh I love this vibe but I wanna here other opinions.