Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related things are not mine. They are owned by the wonderful J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I make no money whatsoever out of this. It is simply to have some fun with the characters we all love and hopefully improve my writing.

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"Try harder, Miss Granger!"

"I am!" seethed Hermione. She glared at him as he held his wand lazily in his hand.

It had been two weeks since Hermione had arrived but it already felt like two months to her. After Snape had told her about the rings, she had of course planned to leave as quickly as possible. He had gone to a Death Eaters' meeting three days ago and Hermione had planned her escape but failed miserably. She had tried to Apparate back to her flat and she had actually got there but after a huge sigh of relief she found herself back in the small den.

"You twit, you cannot Apparate because first, I have put a spell on you that will instantly return you back and second, because I can control you with the rings," Snape had said.

"Control me?" she asked, her anger firing up in an instant.

Snape didn't explain and hadn't spoken about the rings ever since. Hermione had taken the news that Snape would have to impregnate her in order to free herself from the marriage quite badly. She had stormed towards him and hurt him wherever she could. She couldn't remember anything she had said but knew whatever she said had hit home. After that, Snape had decided to completely ignore her except when he was teaching her Occlumency or asked her to make a meal. Hermione asked him where they would get their food and he'd told her that she'd have to cook. All the utencils and ingredients she needed in order to cook were all in a walk-in cupboard.

"But I can't cook," she had said.

"You will learn," Snape retorted. Hermione's first attempt at cooking was quite horrible; she had burnt the eggs and soaked the bacon in grease.

"I told you!" she screamed when Snape had thanked her with a flow of insults. Hermione found herself crying more than she ever had in her life. Snape looked at her in digust whenever she sniffed. But the worst of all was when Snape had told her that they would share the bed.

"No way," said Hermione firmly.

Snape didn't care so he simply turned out the candles and laid on the bed.

"Can't you make it into two?" she had pleaded.

"No," said Snape in the darkness. So Hermione had been spending the past days on the couch in front of the fire.

Hermione sank back on a chair. "That's enough for today," she said.

"It is not up to you, now get up," said Snape bitterly. Hermione simply shrugged and didn't look up.

Get up, said a voice in her head. Suddenly every thought in her head had disappeared and one voice just told her to get up. Hermione obliged and stood in front of Snape. He smirked and lowered his wand. When Hermione realised what had just happened, she pointed her wand and screamed, "Expelliarmus!" Hermione caught Snape's wand as he was thrown back.

"How dare you use the Imperius Curse on me!" she hissed. Snape rose to his feet and glared down at her. Hermione actually felt herself cower under his piercing gaze but she simply stood her ground.

Snape smirked. "I can control you in many ways," he said.

"You can't control me," replied Hermione. She suddenly felt stupid saying it.

Snape sneered. "Stop wasting my time, Miss Granger."

"Let me go, then!"

"What is it about 'The Dark Lord will kill you once you leave' that you cannot manage to understand? Or maybe it's the pathetic Gryffindor in you that's telling you to get yourself killed?"

"You don't care about me so just let him damn kill me!"

Snape laughed. "You think it's you I am doing all this for? Do you not realise that I too am in this situation?"

"You put yourself in it! I didn't tell you to kidnap me and bring me here!" she roared. Hermione had noticed that her anger would rise within seconds since she had come here.

"So predictable," sneered Snape, "A Gryffindor with an extremely large head thinking only about herself. Do you know how much people you will kill if you are under the Dark Lord's control? You will kill your own kind, Muggleborns. He'll laugh as he watches you slitting a poor kid's throat. You'll torture anyone who steps in your way; you will be a sadistic and vindictive person just like him. Using the Killing Curse will be like breathing --"

"Shut up!" screamed Hermione, knowing she would burst in tears in a second if Snape didn't keep quiet.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "That is what you want, isn't it? Because if you leave, that's what you'll do; kill and torture," he said as he stepped back. "You want to get rid of me, don't you? Kill me," he hissed, "You have my wand."

Hermione burst in tears. "I'm not a killer..."

"You will be if you do not do as I say," said Snape.

"Fine," she choked. Hermione rubbed the tears off her face with the sleeve of her shirt. She looked up and found Snape watching her.

"Here," she threw his wand. He caught it and sat on a chair.

They sat in silence. Hermione felt rather embarassed. She tried to fight back the tears everytime but Snape had a skill of hitting her hard where it hurt.

"I will teach you how to fight back the Imperius Curse in a way so the Dark Lord will not notice you fighting back," said Snape after a while.

Hermione didn't reply. She really didn't care but felt a huge weight on her shoulders.

"I will be leaving tonight," said Snape quietly, "so do not try to escape," he warned.

"Why bother," she said softly. Hermione rose to her feet and walked to the bathroom. She turned the taps on and waited till the bath was full. Hermione stripped off her clothes and sank into the warm water. She felt her bones relaxing and closed her eyes. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she found Snape putting on his Death Eater clothes. He didn't realise that she had walked out so he held up his white mask and put it on. Hermione stared at Snape. She had never seen him in the mask before. His dark, black eyes stood out so much from the white coverage.

Snape turned around and faced Hermione.

"Do I have to...where those when I...?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," he replied.

"Do not act foolishly when I am gone," he said then disappeared with a crack. Hermione sighed and walked to the bookshelf. She took down a book and curled up in an armchair. She had felt quite suffocated the first few days because there were no windows but she'd gotten used to it.

The light of the blazing fire caught her eye. Floo network, she thought. Hermione rose to her feet in an instant and ran to the fireplace. She searched for some powder but couldn't find any. Damn it! Hermione looked around the room. She headed to Snape's mini lab and began searching frantically but after fifteen minutes, she sank back onto the sofa in defeat. Hermione sat quietly in the silent room. It felt quite eerie. She closed her eyes and tried emptying her mind. She remembered Harry's difficulty at this. Oh, who cares about him! But a few minutes later, she dozed off with a picture of her, Harry and Ron stuck in her mind.

There was a shuffling sound buzzing in Hermione's ears. She turned on her side with her eyes still closed. But the sound was still there. She opened her eyes and gave a slight scream. A house-elf was looking through Snape's bedside drawer.

"Who are you -- what are you doing!"

The house-elf jumped and turned around.

"Master is sending me here!" it said frighteningly.

"Who?" asked Hermione.

"Master," replied the elf, cowering.

Hermione sighed and gave a smile. "But who is your master? Snape?" she asked gently.

"Yes, Miss."

"What does he want?" said Hermione.

"Master is telling Tinkle to look after the Miss with brown, bushy hair."

Hermione frowned. "How did you get here?"

"Tinkle Apparated here, Miss."

"Okay, so why were you looking through the drawer?" asked Hermione suspiciously.

The elf looked uncomfortably down at his feet. "Master is telling Tinkle to look through his drawer to make sure Miss isn't stealing anything."

"Why would I steal anything?" said Hermione angrily.

The elf shrugged. "Tinkle will leave now," he said.

"Wait!" said Hermione, "Can I Apparate with you?"

The elf's eyes went wide as it stared at Hermione. He shook his head. "No, no; Master is telling Tinkle not to do anything Miss says." Then he disappeared in an instant.

Hermione sighed and stared at her ring. How can he control me? Well, if he can, maybe I can too? Hermione closed her eyes and imagined Snape sitting on the chair opposite her. She opened an eye but there was no one there. She squeezed her eyes and tried again but still there was nothing. Hermione closed her eyes one more time and put all her concentration into it.

"What are you doing, Miss Granger?" asked a dark voice.

Hermione opened her eyes and jumped. "I did it!" she exclaimed.

"You did nothing but close your eyes like a child who was in sheer pain."

Hermione scowled. "Well, how come you said you can do things with your ring? How can I do it?" she asked.

"Do you really think I would tell you, Miss Granger?" he sneered.

"I have the right to know."

Snape didn't reply but simply walked to the bathroom. He walked out a few minutes later with his sleeping attire on.

"What did you do at the meeting? What's Voldemort doing?" asked Hermione.

"Miss Granger, if you do not stop asking questions, I promise you I will do something you may not like about it."

Hermione shrugged. "Nothing's stopping you; besides, I'll have to meet him in a few months, shouldn't I know a few things about him?"

"I have told you everything you need to know in order to meet with the Dark Lord."

Hermione sighed. "Professor, I'm nineteen which means I am no longer a child. You demand respect from me so why shouldn't I be respected too? We're bloody married for heaven's sake, so we might have to live with each other forever. Professor, please, do stop acting so immature and treat me like an adult."

Snape stared at Hermione. "Once you've learned how to shut that mouth of yours and not asking about things not meant to be asked about, I will consider treating you decently. Until then, Miss Granger, I'll treat you however I want."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Fine," she spat, "act like a child, I don't care. Once this ordeal is over, I'll gladly leave you in peace, Snape. Leave you to dwell on your own misery." She knew that this time she had done it, Snape was going to hurt her. But to her great surprise, he smirked.

"I would gladly dwell on my misery than to live in your annoying presence."

Hermione's eyes burned with anger, she imagined storming towards him and hurting every part of his body, she imagine wiping that smirk off his face with a hex and she imagined tying him with rope and using Crucio on him till he begged her to stop but she simply stood her ground and smiled sweetly at him.

"Great," she said, "It sure is a bummer to be a Slytherin isn't it? You know, every one of you has got abusive parents, messed up lives and no future you can control whatsoever. Tell me, Snape, what made you join Voldemort. Your thirst for power? Or did it just hit you that you couldn't seek revenge on the Marauders without someone's help?"

Snape took out his wand and opened his mouth. But no sound came out. He glared at Hermione but then put back his wand and extinguished the candles. Hermione smiled in the darkness. He can't hurt me, she thought. And all the fear inside Hermione vanished. As long as she had Snape, no one would hurt her. He himself wouldn't hurt no matter how much she insulted him. But Hermione was smart enough to know that Snape couldn't be trusted and decided not to push any more of Snape's buttons. So she walked to the bed and slipped under the covers, lying as far from Snape as possible.

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