Chapter 3

"You're ready," the Dark Lord told her. It was the end of their final Legilimency lesson; Hermione was packed and ready to return to Hogwarts, her trunk sitting next to her in the library, reminding her that her time with the Dark Lord was up until the Christmas Holidays—if they were even allowed to return home. How can I return to Hogwarts when I have so much to learn from Him, she thought, but outwardly she smiled.

"I suppose we'll have to see."

"Confidence is crucial to success, Hermione, I suggest you try to have a bit more of it in order to fool Dumbledore and Snape."

"Trust me, my Lord, if there's one attribute I'm not lacking, it's confidence," she said, but then paused, "What do you mean, fool Dumbledore?"

"Don't think I forgot your parting words to Potter," he replied, casting her a displeased look, "Dumbledore will have heard about it now, and will have drawn his own conclusions."

"Right," Hermione made a rueful face, "I am sorry about that, I wasn't thinking—"

The Dark Lord waved off her apology, "There's nothing to be done about it now. You will just need to keep your mind guarded at all times, even if you don't see the old fool around."

Hermione nodded at his command.

"Try to stay out of trouble, he'll be looking for ways to get you alone—and that's something you need to avoid. I don't trust what he would do to get information from you."

There was a knock on the door before the Dark Lord continued, and Hermione's father entered. He bowed quickly, before turning to Hermione.

"It's time to head to King's Cross."

"I'll meet you in the entryway in a few minutes." She told him, without looking at him.

The Dark Lord continued once her father had left the room.

"Potter will likely be on edge around you as well, but keep a sharp eye on him."

Hermione nodded again, knowing that this year Potter was the least of their worries.

"Moody will be a problem," he warned, "Dumbledore will have told him all about you. You must never be alone with him. Keep your guard up around him during lessons, and don't show all of your strengths. He'll notice your Occlumency skills right off the bat—he'll try to enter your mind as soon as he can. When he finds out he can't, he'll be even more wary of you," the Dark Lord paused, "I believe that's it. But as I said, you are ready."

Hermione smiled again, glad that he had faith in her, but wondering if she was up to the task. This year was bound to be the hardest yet, and that wasn't even including schoolwork.

"When will you call the rest of the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked. It had been a question she'd wondered about since the meeting after the Quidditch World Cup, when he had changed his mind about calling the rest of his followers.

"Soon," he said, concisely, "Severus will come when he's called, and I would like to know of his loyalty one way or another before I reunite the rest of our friends."

"So it's dependent on me," Hermione realized, "and when I can get you the information you need."

"Which is why I need the information sooner rather than later," at that, the Dark Lord stood, "but you must get going—before you miss the train."

He held out a hand and helped her to her feet.

"Good luck," he told her, with a brief smile, "I expect I'll be talking to you soon."

After boarding the Hogwarts Express, the four Slytherins headed straight to the last compartment, all the better for the privacy they required.

"I've talked to the Dark Lord," Hermione began, "and we need to be especially vigilant around Moody. I expect you've been practicing Occlumency with your parents like I suggested?"

The three friends nodded.

"Good, I expect we'll need to guard our minds far more often than not. We must never be alone with Moody or Dumbledore—that means avoiding detention at all cost."

"Does that mean we won't be able to mess with Potter?" Blaise complained.

"No," she said, succinctly, "It simply means we'll have to be more careful than we used to be." She smiled at Blaise as he begun to concoct ways to torture the Gryffindors throughout the year.

"We can plan that later, Blaise," Pansy said, "I want Hermione to test my Occlumency."

Blaise stopped talking in anticipation of the show. Hermione turned to face Pansy, focusing in on her friend.

"Legilimens," she murmured.

Pansy put up a strong shield, blocking Hermione from her thoughts. She looked for a crack in the armor, somewhere that she could press through. When she finally found an infinitesimal break, she pushed through and broke the whole shield down.

"That was good, Pans. Make sure you focus on the shield throughout, so you can continue to strengthen it, and avoid cracks in your defense."

"Give me a go," Blaise requested, but as Hermione turned to him, their compartment door slid open.

"Oh, look who it is," Potter said, leaning against the doorway, "Voldemort's youngest Death Eaters."

"Potter," Hermione addressed, with a bored expression, twirling her wand threateningly around her fingers, "Do you need something or did you come in here simply to throw accusations at us?"

"We don't need accusations, Granger, we know you're all in league with You-Know-Who." Weasel replied.

"Be careful, Potter," Draco sneered, "if we were in league with Him, it would probably be best not to cross us. Might get in over your head."

"That sounds like a threat, Malfoy." Potter snarled, taking a step further into their compartment.

"More like a promise," Draco said, coolly.

"Draco," Hermione said, unconcernedly, from her seat in the corner, "Furnunculus or the Stinging Jinx?"

He didn't even turn to look at her, "Personally I think pain teaches a better lesson."

She nodded in agreement, before glancing at Weasel.

"Acidum."

Weasel let out a loud groan of pain and fell to his knees. Potter and Longbottom rushed to his side, as Hermione narrowed her eyes and intensified the spell. Her smirk grew as Weasel's groans escalated.

Moments later, she blinked—breaking her focus and ending the spell. She watched as the two Gryffindors helped Weasel to his feet. His face was bleeding, with burns from the effects of the stings. She hadn't performed a traditional Stinging Jinx, instead, she had used a wandless variation that the Dark Lord had taught her.

"You think you're going to get away with torturing him, Granger? Look at his face! You can't cover this one up." Potter growled.

Hermione stood up boldly, smirking all the while, as she walked over to Weasel. Potter made to block her, but Hermione pushed him aside. She pointed her wand at Weasel's face, shoving Potter back when he tried to move toward her again.

Weasel tried to cover himself from her, but she grabbed him roughly by his hair and pulled his face up to her wand.

"Vulnera Sanentur," she murmured. The wounds began to close up and the blood began to disappear, "I'd say you've lost your proof. Now get out of our compartment."

She sat back down, and raised her eyebrows expectantly. Potter's eyes were flashing with anger, and didn't move to exit. He withdrew his wand from his pocket and pointed it at Hermione.

"I believe she said to leave," Draco said, dangerously. Potter didn't answer, and didn't break his eye contact with Hermione as he backed out of the room. Weasel and Longbottom followed behind him.

"This year is going to be different," he promised them, "We're going to start playing as dirty as you do."

"I'd like to see you try, Potter," Hermione replied.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy the chapter! Please review and tell me anything and everything you think about this chapter. I love hearing from you all.

Thanks to Midnight Little One, Carlaisabel, Ramyfan, Pank98, AmayaBlack, Ellybelly07, LadiePhoenix007, Aghaliam, Dramione231, not really sane fairy, aeireis, gabroche25 and four guests for reviewing!