999- an emergency number in London, the equivalent to 911 (U.S)

Shisha- this term is often used to refer to the object that many people smoke Hookah out of.

Hello. I am putting this A/N here as a warning and to also serve as a bit of an explanation. The very first warning in chapter 1 warns that this story will be very dark. Anyone who is familiar with my stories knows that I normally work the stories up to that. This story has dealt and will continue to deal with heavy topics. I've read many mafia/mob stories. I love them, but one thing I vowed not to do when I started writing this story was to romanticize and glamorize this lifestyle. That is not this kind of mafia/mob story. Obviously, I have never lived in this setting or lived this lifestyle, but through a lot of research and first persons' accounts over the years, I know that it is not a glamorous one. People get hurt, people die, and people live with psychological damage from the environment. With that being said...

I am putting a Non-Con warning here (Hermione was not harmed in the making of this chapter). A major character in this story is far from a good one. There is nothing redeemable or likable about this character. I don't go into detail, not even the slightest of detail, but the implications are still there, nonetheless.

Regrets collect like old friends

Here to relive your darkest moments

I can see no way, I can see no way

And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh

-Shake it Out, Florence + The Machine

Hermione's fingers shook as she lifted them towards her face, drops of water cascading from her fingertips. She stared at them in wonder, the alcohol coursing through her blood blurred out everything around her. Her body felt numb, a welcome feeling as the spray of water fell around her, wetting the tiles. It had only been a week, but Ginny's fateful words were on a constant loop in her head ever since.

Ron's gone.

He took a flight to the states.

He left…

…and she went with him.

She went with him.

Hermione mouthed the words to herself over and over again, as if trying to make sense of them. Where did she go wrong? What did she do?

"Hermione?"

She paid no mind to the sound of her voice being called, footfalls getting closer as the seconds ticked by.

"Hermione? What- oh. Oh, Hermione…"

She was suddenly cold, the soothing feel of water washing over her gone as Ginny turned the knob. Her brief shivering was short loved as a large towel was wrapped around her only a moment later.

"You can't keep doing this," Ginny said.

"What did I do?"

Ginny was quick to respond as soon as she registered Hermione's question.

"Nothing! Do you hear me? You didn't do anything, Hermione. You were good to him. You were never anything but good to him! He's just selfish, always has been…"

"No one's feelings just change that drastically that fast. I must have…," Hermione trailed off, tangling her hand in her hair, lips quivering.

"You didn't do anything wrong. Please, believe me… Everyone is on your side, because he is in the wrong. He's thinking with his dick…" Hermione winced "…it's nothing new."

Hermione looked down, shaking her head, wet hair clinging to her skin.

"I hate him," the words flew out before she could stop them.

Ginny sighed.

"I hate him too."

"I…I hate him so much. L-look at me! I'm in the shower…drunk…and crying like some- some-."

"Someone's who's hurt?"

"I hate him. If I could see him, right now, I would gladly murder him," she whispered.

Ginny ran her hands up and down her arms, a soothing gesture as Hermione cried.

"I hope she breaks his heart…and I hope it kills him," she sneered. "I pray that he gets exactly what's coming to him. I don't care if it's today, I don't care if it's three years from now. I want him to suffer…"

Hermione's entire body shook with uncontrollable sobs as she stood outside of her house, waiting for Ron to pick her up. Her hands were unsteady, the trembling fingers clutching her phone to her chest. The neighborhood was quiet, nothing out of the ordinary, and she had the sudden urge to curse every single resident who lived there for their blissful ignorance. A war was raging inside of Hermione…

She wanted to murder Ronald. She could hardly place the myriad of emotions that swirled beneath the surface of her chest, but that feeling stood out more than the rest. What the bloody hell was he doing taking drugs, anyway? What if they weren't even for him? She clenched her jaw at the thought of Ron dragging himself into this mess for someone else. She lifted her head as she watched the familiar silver car park on the curb. Ron's fiery hair was unmistakable as he got out of the car.

"Hermione? What- what's wrong? On the phone, you sounded…," he trailed off as he neared her.

The street light showcased her puffy face and watery eyes, no doubt. She clutched her thin jacket around her, and Ron must have mistaken her trembling for shivering from the cold. He pulled her into his arms, attempting to warm her up as she shook. She cried into his chest, his soft rocking doing nothing to calm her.

"Hey… What's going on? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, her tears very much real as she recited the line Riddle had given to her.

"Can we go somewhere and talk?"

Ron pulled away, an unfamiliar emotion swimming across his features as he gazed at her. A new wave of tears fell all over again as she watched hope bleed into his eyes.

"Yeah… Yeah, of course. Come on…"

Hermione closed her eyes as he guided her into his passenger seat, heart thudding as he slammed the door shut. She mumbled out a location as soon as he settled himself behind the wheel. The car ride was silent, and Hermione was sure he could hear her heart pounding inside of her chest. Her phone was getting heavier by the minute as she fought with herself.

Could she type something on her phone and show it to him? Surely, they'd never believe that he didn't buy her story, though. They would know that she had backed out. Does that matter? Hermione bit her lip, glancing at Ron. He saw her, and threw her a small smile, one she did not return. Surely, she could handle whatever punishment Riddle would dish out. She glanced over her shoulder at the car lights not too far behind them.

They're going to kill him, Hermione. Deep down in her heart, she knew this. Ron didn't have the money, and they knew this. Riddle had told her that half the fun of the business was killing blokes who thought they could con him. He looked forward to these visits. The anticipation of the kill delighted him. Ron had hurt her, yes. He'd broken her, irrevocably damaging her. He'd done an awful, cowardly thing, something that she did not deserve, but… That didn't mean that he deserved to die. Before she had time to make a decision, Ron's car came to a stop, the St. Katherine Docks Marina just up ahead.

"What's going on, Hermione? What do you want to talk about?"

Hermione looked down, the soft higher pitch of his voice making it obvious as to what was going on inside of his head.

"Is this about me? Us?"

Hermione opened her mouth, unsure of what to do, what to say when bright lights filled the car as another vehicle pulled up behind them. Ron squinted as he turned around. Hermione continued staring forward, a lump forming in her throat. A second pair of headlights blared into the car, and she closed her eyes.

"What the hell," she heard Ron whisper.

Hermione clenched her jaw, opening the door, and stepping out. She ignored Ron's protests as she stood at the open passenger door.

"Hermione, what are you doing? Get back in the car, I don't know what's going on…," he trailed off as a familiar dark haired man stepped beside her, a gun aimed into the car.

"Get out," Flint sneered, amusement lacing his tone.

Ron's eyes widened, and he looked at her, but Hermione looked away.

"Hermione…?"

She heard hurried footsteps approaching the car before the sound of a window shattering reached her ears.

"Get out of the fucking car, Weasley."

Hermione's eyes widened, and she looked up at the sound of his voice.

She stared at Teddy in horror as he aimed a gun at her ex-boyfriend. There was a tense silence, one in which she stared at Teddy who stared at Ron who stared back. He eventually opened his door, stepping out with his hands up as Teddy pressed the barrel of his gun against Ron's forehead.

"Nott," Ron acknowledged, still unsure of what was going on.

Hermione began to grow confused too. Riddle had said that Teddy wouldn't be joining them…

"You have no idea how much I'm enjoying this, right now," Teddy whispered, a humorless grin on his lips.

"Theo…where is-."

"A quick change of plans. I'm in charge, tonight. After all, I'd get way more pleasure out of this than Riddle ever could," Teddy said with pride, pressing the gun further into Ron's forehead.

She could see Ron tense at the mention of Riddle's name.

"Teddy, plea-."

"Get her out of here…"

Hermione didn't have time to react as she was dragged away. Their grip was loose as she screamed at Teddy, but they all ignored her. She'd just gotten dragged past the first SUV when she elbowed the nameless guard in his crotch. He keeled over, and she ran, hair flying past her as she ducked in between the buildings. Consequences be damned, she wasn't going to be an accessory to murder. She definitely wasn't going to stand by and watch her ex-boyfriend, her best friend's brother, die. No, because she was undoubtedly sure, that Teddy would kill him.

She scrambled for her phone, pressing it to her ear as her stomach turned.

"999, what is your emergency?"

Hermione had been sitting in between the buildings for roughly ten minutes. She hadn't heard any yelling or gunshots yet so she took that as a good sign. She shivered in the cold, eyes tight from all of the tears she had shed. She was growing more and more nervous as the minutes ticked on. Her head was resting in her hands, tears threatening to spill over again as the severity of what she'd done kicked in. She'd seen enough movies…

She was a rat, right? She'd called the cops. It didn't matter that it was anonymous, Riddle would figure out that it was her. God, what had she done? She kept trying to convince herself that she'd done the right thing, but as the minutes dragged on, that became harder to do. She started contemplating making a second phone call when she heard sirens.

She sat up, eyes wide as she looked around, trying to locate which direction they were coming from. She knew that if she could hear them, then so could they… She hurriedly stood, it suddenly dawning on her that if Theo was caught, he'd be arrested. That horrifying revelation had just crossed her mind when she heard a gunshot. She gasped, the sounds of a loud commotion reaching her ears as she saw red and blue lights appear, speeding past where she was hidden.

She could hear the screech of tires, and she backed up, stumbling as far away from the scene as possible. She dropped her phone, falling to her knees, and scrambling to grab it as she tapped the digits through blurry vision.

"Where are you?"

She opened her mouth, attempting to get the words out, but a harsh sob escaped instead.

"Are you hurt?"

"…no," she choked out, crawling to sit behind a dumpster.

"Hermione, you're scaring me. Where are you? What's going on?"

"I did something stupid," she breathed out once she'd gotten herself moderately under control.

He could probably hear the fear in her voice, and suddenly, the sirens started all over again. She heard his breath hitch.

"What did you do?"

"…I called the cops," she said, lips trembling.

The other line was silent for a minute.

"…you what?"

"They had Ron, and I couldn't… I couldn't just-," she cut herself off as he shushed her.

"Tell me where you are."

She blurted out her location, doing her best to describe where she was hiding exactly. An ambulance had long driven past, its familiar color of lights reflecting off of the buildings. She had been rocking back and forth, hands pressed against her lips in a prayer formation. It had been quiet for a while now, all of the cars and emergency vehicles long gone. Was Ron okay? Who had fired the gun? Was Teddy alright? Did he know that she had called the cops?

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't hear the approaching footsteps until a hand landed on her shoulder. A horrified shriek escaped her lips as she spun around, arms swinging. The figure caught her wrists in his grip, pulling her into him.

"It's me," he whispered.

She sighed in relief, wrapping her arms around him, collapsing in his hold.

"They were going to kill him. Teddy had a gun to his head. He hates him, Draco. He hates him so much, he was just itching to get this opportunity, and I couldn't-."

"I know. It's okay," he said, tightening his arms around her.

"I'll have to go back. I'll have to face him…or he's going to kill every single one of them," she whispered.

"Not tonight," he said, dragging her past the buildings, hurrying them towards his car parked in the shadows.

He ushered her in, and she'd just attached her seatbelt when he slid in, the car purring to life. She dropped her head in her hands, body buzzing with adrenaline.

"Riddle needs you, Hermione… they aren't going to hurt you," he said.

"…but they can hurt my friends! I mean… What else was I supposed to do, just let them kill him?"

"Honestly…?"

She snapped her head up, glaring at him in disbelief.

"Oh, you cannot be serious," she breathed.

"He's not even your friend! Now, you've put yourself in more danger trying to protect him. Would he have done the same for you if he was in your shoes?"

Hermione slapped her hands against the dashboard.

"That's not the point!"

"Yes, it is! It's…noble that you would go to such great lengths to protect people, Hermione. Truly, it is, but in this case, he definitely deserved what was coming to him-!"

"Who are you to say that?" she screamed.

"He's garbage, Hermione-."

"Yeah, and what does that make you? Who are you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Right now? Right now, I'm the person driving you to safety because you didn't want to let a deserving person-!"

"He doesn't deserve to die, Draco!"

"I disagree, Hermione!"

She turned away from him, arms folded over her chest. She heard him sigh, a tired sound that was filled with stress.

"Look, I get where you're coming from, I do, but… You need to understand that if I had to choose between you and any one of these other bastards out here, I'd pick you every time. Your ex-boyfriend is nothing to me, Hermione. He's just another name…"

"Well, I can't think like that-."

"Well, you need to. Did it ever occur to you that he knows about you now? About Nott? God forbid he survived tonight, you really think he's not going to tell your friends? Maybe even the police?"

Hermione's eyes widened.

"You should've let Nott do his job," he said, turning into his driveway.

Hermione looked down, thinking of the new set of problems that she had created for herself tonight. They both exited his car, meeting in front of it, Draco wrapping his arms around her.

"Everything's going to be fine," he whispered, lips brushing against her forehead.

"They'll know it was me. If they don't figure it out, tonight, it'll only be a matter of time," she said as he led her into his house.

She squinted her eyes at the harsh lights as he shut the door behind them. He lifted his head, his movements suddenly halting as he stared at her.

"What?" she quietly asked.

In two strides, he was upon her, tilting her head back and running his fingers along her neck. She snatched herself away from him at the tender feeling. She brought her hand up to cover the finger marks Riddle had left on her neck.

"It looks worse than-."

"I don't care," he harshly interrupted, reaching for her again.

She winced as he brushed his thumb along her skin, an unfamiliar look passing through his eyes. He suddenly leaned down, gently pressing his lips against her neck before brushing them against her own.

"I am getting you out of there. I promise you that…"

Hermione was woken up by the loud vibration of her cell phone. Her hand flew out, answering it on the fourth ring.

"Hello," she mumbled.

"Hermione? Oh God," the other voice sobbed.

Hermione was suddenly wide awake, sitting up as she registered Ginny's voice.

"Ginny…what's wrong?"

"It's- it's Ron. He was…shot last night? Can you believe that? Just where the bloody hell was he?"

An overwhelming sense of guilt passed through Hermione as she heard her best friend crying on the phone. She swallowed, the image of Teddy holding a gun to Ron's face burned into her brain.

"…is he alright?"

"Yes! Ugh, it's a fucking miracle. The bullet passed straight through his left shoulder. Whoever it was, they were aiming to kill," she choked out.

Hermione suddenly blinked.

"They don't…they don't know who did it?"

"No! These incompetent cops have no leads. None!"

Hermione repressed the urge to sigh in relief. She had just opened her mouth to speak another lie, no doubt, when her phone started beeping.

"Hang on, Gin…"

She pulled her phone away from her ear, heart stopping at the number on the other line.

"Gin…I'll have to call you back," she said.

They both said their goodbyes, and Hermione nervously pressed the phone to her ear again. The other line was silent for a few seconds, and she was too afraid to say anything. She was finally greeted by a cold voice.

"Where are you?"

Hermione sat in a large, unfamiliar room with her head in her hands. Upon being shoved into the chamber, it looked like a bedroom at first glance, but there was no bed. In fact, the only furniture in the room was couches, chase lounges, and assortments of pillows in various parts of the room. She noticed a bar in the far left corner of the room, and a rather large shisha was placed in the center of the room.

She had been sitting on one of the couches for all of ten minutes when she heard a cold voice coming from the hallway.

"Where is she?"

Hermione shuddered at the barely concealed rage dripping from his lips. She merely blinked, and the door was slamming against the wall as he stormed into the room. She swallowed, her eyes focused on the floor as he merely stared at her.

"Look at me," he demanded.

She reluctantly lifted her eyes to meet his, tempted to shrink away from the fire burning there. She noted an unfamiliar man standing by the door, hands clasped behind his back. Her eyes landed on Riddle again, and watched as his nostrils flared, jaw ticking as he glared at her.

"Nothing to say?"

"What could I possibly say?"

It seemed that her accepting attitude of the situation only served to further piss him off.

"You stupid, insolent girl!"

He strode over to her, grasping her chin in his tight grip as he forced her to her feet.

"You almost cost me three of my best men. There is a man out there, now, who knows about their identities and yours! I should kill you where you stand," he spat.

"You need me," she whispered.

"Heh. Correct you are, Hermione. Somehow, that little tidbit of information has led you to believe that you can do whatever you want…"

"I couldn't let you kill him. I couldn't… I did what I felt I had to do, consequences be damned. Do your worst," she sneered.

He ran his eyes over her, a frightening expression on his face.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

She didn't respond, and a smirk slowly found its way onto his lips, eyes boring into her own.

"You see, I've gotten you all figured out, Ms. Granger," he purred.

She narrowed her eyes as he brushed his nose against hers.

"I know you. You are just the idiotic self-sacrificing type to gladly put your life on the line for someone else. It's cute…that is, when it's not so infuriating. You seem to be under the impression that you can take whatever I dish out, that you can handle whatever consequences I have in store for you. That, Hermione, was your mistake…"

Hermione frowned in confusion, unsure of where he was going with this.

"You told me to do my worst, well…here is my worst."

He nodded at the young man, and she watched as he left the room only to return almost two minutes later, dragging a girl in with him. Hermione winced as Riddle threw her to the floor, turning away to approach the frantic and confused girl as the young man shut the door. Hermione felt an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. Before she had time to right herself, the unfamiliar man had approached her, hauling her up and holding her in an iron grip.

The crying girl had a slight tan, jet black hair falling over her shoulders and green eyes that darted around the strange room, taking in the unfamiliar faces. Hermione watched as Riddle knelt before the girl, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

"Do you know why you're here?"

As expected, she shook her head, backing up until she hit the door.

"You see that girl over there?" he quietly questioned, pointing towards Hermione.

Their eyes briefly met, brown and green clashing. The girl nodded.

"Well, you see, you are here because of her…" the girl's eyes landed on Hermione in confusion "…you see, she was very disobedient. I'm sorry that I can't give you more detail than that, because if I did, I'd find myself getting unbelievably angry all over again and… That would not bode well for you."

He chuckled, throwing a glance over his shoulder at Hermione, as if she were supposed to laugh along to the joke she wasn't getting.

"I…I don't understand," the girl whispered, her voice hoarse.

Riddle sighed.

"You are here to reap the punishment for her actions…"

"No," Hermione cried, struggling in the man's hold.

The girl's eyes widened, more fearful and confused than she was before.

"What's your name?" he softly asked her.

"A-Allison," she sobbed, the words coming out through shaky breaths.

"Allison," he repeated. "Such a lovely name for a lovely girl…"

"Please," Hermione begged "…please, just let her go. She doesn't belong here, she doesn't deserve this."

He straightened up, bringing Allison with him as he leaned one hand on the door behind her, facing Hermione.

"You're right. She doesn't belong here. She doesn't deserve this, and yet, here she is…because of you," he said, pointing at her.

"I'm sorry! It was a stupid thing. I panicked, but this has nothing to do with her. This is between you and me!"

Hermione's voice grew more desperate as the seconds ticked by.

"Between you and me…," he rolled the words around his mouth "…there's that assumption that I fight fair. I never fight fair, Hermione."

He turned towards Allison, reaching up to cup her chin, turning her head to the side.

"She's such a pretty girl, wouldn't you agree?"

"Please, let her go… Whatever you ask of me, I swear, I'll do it. It was stupid," Hermione cried.

Riddle paid her no mind, as if he never heard her.

"I wonder if she's just as pretty without all of these layers-."

"No!" Hermione shrieked.

The girl screamed, throwing herself away from him and yanking on the door. It was useless, Hermione could tell that it was locked from the outside. Hermione's chest heaved in panic as he approached her. He brushed his thumb along her jaw, and Hermione jerked her head away from him as the man behind her tightened his hold, almost painfully so.

"You see, I'm struggling with something here, Hermione."

He took a few steps back, the girl behind him practically hyperventilating now.

"I'll let you pick, Hermione… Should I kill her…" the girl screamed behind him, sobbing uncontrollably now "…or should I rape her?"

"No, no! Please, Tom-!"

"Tom? So it's Tom, now?" he questioned as he stepped towards her.

He bent down, eyeing her as she sobbed, pleading.

"Look at you," he said in wonder "…oh, this is going to break you. How interesting…"

He backed up again, and Hermione cried harder, chest aching.

"Take your pick," he sang.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, please! Let her go… I've learned my lesson, I understand now. I'll listen," she choked out.

He stood there, contemplating her words, his head tilted to the side as he gazed at her. His index finger was pressed against the side of his temple as he smirked, a joke dancing on his lips, mirth swirling in his eyes.

"You know what? Why am I making you choose…

He backed up, sliding his suit jacket down his arms as he did so, eyes never leaving hers.

"...when I could just do both?"

Hermione screamed.

Hermione clung to the toilet as she emptied out the contents of her stomach…again. She could hear voices behind her, murmuring, but her mind was elsewhere. She hiccupped, a sob stuck in her chest as she threw up again.

"She's in there," she heard someone say.

"Hermione!"

She felt herself being lifted, her feet tripping over each other as she was practically dragged out of the bathroom.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, vision blurring as she fought the urge to be sick again. She winced at the harsh lights that greeted her as they stumbled into the garage. She didn't even care that it was Teddy holding her, that she was supposed to be infuriated with him, interrogating him about what happened last night. She didn't care. An innocent girl had lost her life because of her foolish actions.

She sobbed as he helped her into his car. He didn't get in, instead leaning over her, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"What happened? Say something, please," he begged.

She cried harder, unable to speak. She felt, rather than heard him kneel down beside her.

"Please, talk to me," he whispered.

"I'm going to kill him," she got out in between coughs.

"…what?"

She lifted her head, tears streaming down her face as she gazed at her best friend.

"I'm going to kill Tom Riddle…if it's the last thing I do."

Let me know what you think!