-1Chapter Ten
AN: Yes, amazing, I updated.
Okay, everyone, Hermione is a bit, alright, very mean, I guess you could say. Please forgive her. She'll redeem herself a bit, at least she does to me. Anyway, have fun reading.
A.N. Just so y'all know, this is the uber Hermione fan typing, the whole beating thing wasn't for or from y'all, it was an honest effort to show the Hermione is simply living as Voldemort tells her to. Her character before now was for the most part a puppet. Happy Reading, Christmas, whatever y'all celebrate.
Hogwarts Express
"Then we have a problem."
The Slytherins in the compartment all waited for her to either curse them or say something else.
"You are the Dark Lords heir…" Pansy started. "Only those of us here know. Blaise figured it out."
Hermione looked around the compartment. Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bullstrode, and Theodore Nott. All from first year. "No one else knows? You're sure?"
"Yes, my Lady." Theodore said. "We have not revealed anything to anyone, not even the upper years."
"Good." Hermione's face took on a thoughtful look. "Make sure no one else finds out about it. Your lives might become… difficult if anyone else finds out, especially if Dumbledore finds out. At least not until the Dark Lord announces me as his heir formally."
The Slytherins knew a threat when hey heard one and seeing how well this girl was in her classes had led them to respect her knowledge and power. Though she did not have near the raw strength that her counterparts did, her knowledge on how exactly to use her power to it's fullest surpassed both Draco and Harry in bounds and leaps.
Malfoy Manor
"Tom!" Hermione greeted when she entered the door to Tom's study. There was a hint of worry in her voice, one that she couldn't hide.
"Yes Hermione." Tom said from behind her. She turned and looked him strait in the eye. "There are four Slytherins that know who I am. I know Draco hasn't told anyone, and I definitely have been careful with what I say around them. They say Blaise figured it out."
Tom narrowed his eyes and then looked to the door where Lucius stood. The blond looked at his Lord with little fear knowing that if he managed things well enough then no one would be hurt, for now at least. "My Lord, I have not informed the others, neither has Narcissa. The children of the others know what to look for in a leader though, it is no surprise that one of them may have figured it out, they all have been raised knowing what to expect when they were to join our cause."
"Of course Lucius, but I will call a meeting. There are a few things that must be discussed between the old crowd, they must not let their children reveal anything until the right time. Also some may not believe I have really returned as I haven't been actively pursuing our cause for the past years… they need to know that I am still Lord Voldemort." Tom grinned. "They will see that I have not given up yet."
"Yes my Lord." Lucius left the room.
"Tom, what do I do now?" Hermione asked. She sat heavily in the desks chair and put her face in her hands. "I'm not ready to lead them yet. I need a little longer."
Tom looked down at her. "Get up." His voice was cold.
"Tom?" Hermione looked at him surprised.
"Get up. You are my heir. You cannot show weakness to anyone, especially not to me." He slapped her. Hermione snarled from the floor, wand in hand pointed at Voldemort. Voldemort sneered and backhanded Hermione, sending her crashing back down to the floor. Hermione's head was bent, her eyes avoiding his. He grasped her chin and wrenched her head up. He hissed, "This is the only reminder you get mudblood, the next time I'll begin grooming one of your brothers." He shoved her away from him and apparated from the room. Tears filled the terrified witch's eyes even as she stood.
Draco and Harry looked at each other surprised at the conversation they had heard. It wasn't every day that they saw Hermione get reprimanded by Tom. Usually it was the opposite. They didn't hate her for being Tom's favorite, well, Harry sometimes wished Tom would pay more attention to him. It didn't bother him as much as it had a few years ago.
"So… what do we do?" Draco asked Harry. "Hermione will break eventually, she's obviously still human. No matter what Tom thinks."
Harry thought for a moment. "She… she is the only one we can really trust with anything." Harry sighed and slid to the ground. "Tom says she can't show weakness too anyone, or they'll kill her… I guess that's true, but then who will she trust to help her rule?"
"She can trust us." Draco said. He knelt next to Harry. "She can trust us, we are her friends. The only ones probably."
"You're right." They both stood and entered the room where Hermione was looking out the window across the Manors grounds and closed the door behind them.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"We heard what Tom said." Harry answered. Hermione jerked around to look at them.
"And? What are you going to do?" She looked between them, Draco crossed his arms and leaned against the door.
"Nothing. You are our friend." Draco said.
Hermione spat viciously . "I have no friends, I need no friends."
Harry smiled shaking his head. "No, your wrong. You need friends more than anyone. You need to be able to trust someone to help you lead, to keep you from doing anything stupid."
Draco looked at Harry then to Hermione. "He's right, you know. Tom trusts my father to keep the death eaters in line when he cannot. We are your friends Hermione. If you can't show weakness to us, then you'll break."
"NO!" Hermione shouted. "I don't need anyone… I don't…"
"Hermione…" Harry went up to her and embraced her. She sighed and let him hug her. She felt Draco's arms wrap around her as well and she smiled.
"You guys are right I guess. I do need friends… Thanks."
"No problem." Harry and Draco let go of her. The three children smiled at one another.
"So… What now?" Draco asked.
"We need to keep the Slytherins in line, and we need to keep the rest of the school from finding out exactly who I am. Dumbledore can't know… no he would have done something. I think only those I spoke to in the compartment know who I am. They promised not to tell anyone." Hermione sat back down. "Ugh… this is not going to be fun."
"No it's not. But we'll help you and you'll be ready to lead them when Tom tells the rest who you are." Harry went to the door. "I'm going to go find Tom."
"Why?" Draco asked.
"I need to see if he's still angry about me being put in Gryffindor." Harry said.
" What's the point in asking him? He probably thinks it's a great way to get onto Dumbledore's good side so you can get information about the order from him." Hermione said thoughtfully.
"I just need to know."
Harry found Tom speaking with Lucius in the library. He saw Tom point his wand at Lucius arm and a sharp pain went through his head starting where his scar was. He hissed but fell silent when Tom turned his way.
"Harry?" Tom asked and he stepped into the room. "What is it?"
Harry stopped before Tom, he looked up at the older man and hoped he wouldn't be too angry with him. "Tom I… I need to talk to you about Hogwarts."
Lucius looked at him and then left, Harry thank the man silently.
"You wondered about my reaction to you being placed in Gryffindor, I presume?" Harry nodded. "I am not… angry at you Harry. It's in you blood to be a Gryffindor. You are his heir after all, just as I am Slytherins."
"I am Gryffindors heir? But…" Harry's eyes widened in realization. "You killed my parents. It was you… then why spare me?"
Tom laughed. "I didn't intend for you to live, either. Somehow you managed to survive the Killing Curse I cast and directed it back to me."
Harry backed away from Tom. Did he still want to kill him? No. He would have done that when he had found him. "Why save me from the Dursleys then? You could have tried to kill me then. Why didn't you?"
"You are better off as my ally. If I hadn't found you, Dumbledore would have turned you into yet another one of his pawns. Albeit a very useful pawn. He doesn't care about who he uses to get to me, as long as I am dead." Tom walked up to Harry and put his hand on his shoulder, Harry flinched. "To kill you when you are so very powerful would have been a waste."
"So I am your pawn instead of Dumbledore's?" Harry looked at his feet.
"In a way, yes, you are. But you are much more important than a mere pawn. You are more like the knight to me." Tom raised his face his red eyes piercing into Harry's own green orbs. "Do not worry though. You're abilities are much more appreciated here."
Harry looked into the red eyes of the man he had looked up to, more like idolized, for the past five years. Never before had he doubted Tom, never had even thought that trusting the man was wrong. Now, in a span of just a few minutes his entire view had changed.
This was the man who had killed his parents, the man with the maniacal laugh that haunted his dreams, the man who tried to kill him.
But…
This was the man that saved him from the Dursleys, the man who taught him about magic, the man who had treated him, for the most part, like a son.
"Tom… I can't forgive you for killing my parents…" Harry turned his head to the side looking at the fire place burning. "But, you saved me. I am in your debt because of that."
Tom nodded. "Very well. You'll see that I am a much better choice than Dumbledore." Harry headed towards the door. "Harry," he turned, "when Hermione is queen, you will be beside her. You will lead beside her as King, the Death Eaters will want both of you to prove yourselves to them."
"They will be surprised then. Hermione doesn't plan to fail as leader and neither do I."
Draco found Harry sitting in the gardens. He saw the look on his friends face and wondered how his conversation with Tom had gone.
"You missed dinner." Draco said sitting next to him.
"I know. I had the house elves being me something." Harry continued to look at the sky.
"So, what happened?" Draco asked. "Tom doesn't hate you. He asked where you were at dinner."
"Did you know that he killed my parents?" Harry turned to Draco.
"…I thought you knew, their deaths were all over the papers and I know there are copies in the library." Draco watched as his friends blank expression turned to one of sadness mixed with a hint of barely concealed anger. "I am sorry Harry. What do you plan on doing? Are you going to leave for the light?"
Harry smiled at him. "I can't. I won't. That would be like betraying all that I've known. It wouldn't work anyway. I care too much about you, Hermione, your parents… Tom. Funny, I should hate him, but I don't."
"I don't think it's in you to actually hate someone."
"I hated the Dursleys." Harry said, he stood and headed to the Manor.
Draco frowned. Why couldn't Harry forget about them? He had tried for five years to keep his friend from ever thinking of his relatives, not that Draco considered the Dursleys to even be close to Harry as blood relations. He rather thought they were dirt.
"Forget about them Harry, they were not worthy of ever having known you. They were the most disgusting creatures that could have walked this planet, even for muggles they were horrible." Draco caught up with his friend. "Harry, if… if you do go to the light, ever…"
"I won't Draco."
"But…"
"I won't. I promise."
Yay! Done with this one…. Though most of it was just a spur of the moment, decided the chapter that I had originally had written out was much too… dare I say it, fluffy. Maybe now that I've gotten this out of the way I will get back to typing regularly. (Don't hope for much though… I won't promise anything.)
Damn this thing I long… Oh well. To more typing. I've decided to work on this until school starts again next week.
