Hey guys; don't even ask why this is so late. I have been so busy with all my work and to top it all off my Grandad had a heart attack! He's alright now, but it was quite a scare for the family. Unfortunately there will be no sneak-peak reward for next chapter because I'm afraid I don't have the time, however I will try and be a bit quicker. Thanks to Malibu Baybreeze and Cherryberry8 for your continuous support, I luv you guys!;)Please review and I hope you enjoy!

VERY IMPORTANT: IF YOU ARE UNDER 18, YOU SHOULD NOT BE READING THIS! There is no smut (yet) but there is quite a bit of swearing and some VERY ADULT THEMES! Also, I only own the plot.

Having said goodbye briefly to Hermione and Draco and watched Snape run off to do some unknown task, Blaise was now alone in the library with Lucius. He had nothing against the haughty blond; it was just that he had seen all the Slytherin parents undergo a massive change some nine odd years back.

Thankfully for Draco; Lucius had just become a bit scarier then he previously was, but he was manageable. However, having said that, Blaise could feel Lucius' sharp eyes trained on his back and it was making him rather uncomfortable. He coughed nervously and could almost hear Lucius smirking as a result. What with the rather eventful dinner party that had just taken place, Blaise didn't doubt that Lucius had something to say to him. He was right.

"As you know, Blaise, twice a year an initiation ceremony is held to welcome the new recruits to the outer circle of Slytherins. The next one is scheduled for Christmas day at precisely eight pm. I was rather hoping Hermione would be amongst the new recruits."

Blaise gasped, "Hermione? Don't you think that getting her to work for the Slytherins is enough? Now you want to initiate her into the outer circle?"

Lucius shrugged elegantly, "She shows mighty potential. Plus, all the other scientists are members of either the inner or outer circle. I have confidence that she will ascend the ranks with great speed and end up in the council within a few months."

Blaise shook his head to clear it, "She's only eighteen and she has no blood relatives already in the council. She'd have had to be in the ranks for at least twenty years before getting to the top."

Chuckling, Lucius took a swig of his drink, "Things aren't always what they seem, Blaise. I have high hopes for Miss… Rivers." He said Hermione's surname as if he was drinking an exotic wine; sensuous with a hidden maliciousness.

Blaise collapsed down in an arm chair nearby, "What has any of this got to do with me, Lucius?"

"Because at that same initiation ceremony Draco and you shall be joining the council," he said. Blaise's eyes widened.

"What? But I don't have any blood relations in the council either!"

"Don't raise your voice Blaise," said Lucius, "it has all been taken care of. Unbeknownst to you I have been acting as your 'father' ever since your own father had his little accident."

Blaise sneered, "I killed my father and you know it. The rest of the council know it. Lord bloody Voldemort knows it. Surely that makes me an enemy?"

To Blaise's surprise, Lucius just laughed. Talking about Lord Voldemort in such a way was usually enough in itself to receive a severe punishment.

"My dear Blaise, it's a wolf's world. If you were strong enough to kill your own father whilst still only a boy; then we want you with us, not against us. How old were you, anyway? Fifteen, sixteen…?"

Blaise gritted his teeth together, "Fourteen, actually. And I didn't do it so that I would get a free initiation into Voldemort's council. I did it to save my mother and myself from his abuse. I don't regret it at all."

Lucius shook his head, almost sympathetically, "Not many are strong to do what you did, Blaise. I was seventeen."

Blaise's mouth fell open; there were too many revelations this evening for him to cope with. Not noticing his shocked expression, Lucius continued.

"Much like you, my father Abraxas was abusive to my mother. I tried many times to stop him, but repeatedly failed. I was seventeen when I finally killed the bastard and like you, I'm glad I did it."

"Does Narcissa know? Does Draco?" Blaise asked.

Lucius sighed, "Narcissa knows, but Draco doesn't. I would appreciate it if you didn't tell him, I want to do it myself and you might put ideas into his head," he chuckled ruefully.

Blaise shook his head. He lived in such a fucked up world, him and everybody he knew. He liked to think that somewhere there was a place where the only thing people cared about was friendship and flowers; long strolls on the beach without shoes simply because you couldn't be fucked to put them on. He liked to think there was a world without manipulation. However, even if it did exist, he knew it was inaccessible to him. Maybe that was why his mother kept running; to try and find that world. He silently wished her luck.

"Why are you telling me this, Lucius?"

Lucius exhaled and took another long gulp of brandy, "When it was over, when he was dead on the floor in front of me, I promised myself that I would never expose any child of mine to the kind of abuse I had suffered through. I know it doesn't show all the time, but I do love Draco, as any father would love his child."

"That doesn't answer my question," said Blaise.

"I want you to keep that in mind. That every father loves his child."

Blaise scrunched his brow, why did Lucius have to be so damn cryptic? "What the hell is that supposed to mean and what has it to do with me? My father's dead."

Lucius smiled sadly, "I need you to be there for someone who might not know it. Do you understand me, Blaise?"

Blaise scowled, "But-"

"Blaise, do you understand me?" Lucius insisted.

Blaise nodded reluctantly. He still had no idea what Lucius was getting at, but he was patient. He figured that he would understand in time.

"Good," announced Lucius, "now, back to the task at hand. There is a meeting of the council the day after tomorrow, and I would like you to attend it with me. Lord Voldemort already knows and is fine with it. We will leave for London tonight and spend tomorrow preparing in my office."

Blaise nodded again, he knew he had no choice in this matter, "What time will we leave?"

Lucius glanced at his million-pound wristwatch and hummed in irritation at it. "It's already half past ten. We shall leave as soon as you have packed all the necessary things. Once the meeting is over, you can come back to the Manor with me."

"But I had plans to meet my mother in-"

Lucius handed him a letter wordlessly. Blaise accepted it and looked at Lucius questioningly. "I haven't opened it; however it came with a letter for me. It's from your mother."

Opening it up, Blaise stroked the thick paper lovingly.

My Darling Blaise,

I am afraid I cannot come back to England at the moment, I am so sorry to let you down. I am currently in Italy with your grandparents and I plan to stay here for an unsure amount of time.

The thing is Blaise, there is a war coming and I don't want to be anywhere near it. I know it's selfish, but I don't want you near it either. However, I suspect that you will want to be with your friends and I understand and respect that.

I want you to be careful though, I have just two requests for you. The first is don't let this war change who you are. It changed your father, and you know how that went. You are a kind, intelligent, thoughtful boy, Blaise. Never lose that.

Secondly, choose your side carefully. There are so many more sides than just two, Blaise. I warrant that there are many people who you consider your closest allies who are actually your enemies and those you consider your enemies who are actually watching your back. There will be some that are doing both. Choose the side that you feel is right and stick to it.

I am so sorry that I am not there with you, but I will be thinking of you every day. Be strong, Blaise, don't let anyone tell you what to do.

I love you so much my brilliant boy,

Your Mother XXX

Blaise scrunched the letter in his hand, "I'm not a boy anymore, mother!" He spat. He turned to throw the letter into the fire, but in the end he could not. However much she kept hurting him, he could not just abandon her like that. Reluctantly, he smoothed out the letter and placed it back in the envelope.

Sighing he turned back to Lucius, "I'll go and pack my things."

He didn't wait for a reply; he just quickly left the library and ran up the stairs as fast as he could. Once he had reached his room, he grabbed his suitcase from under the bed and started throwing stuff inside of it.

What he couldn't understand was why Lucius hadn't told Draco about Abraxas. Draco was an adult now, and deserved to know why he didn't have a grandfather. Blaise also couldn't guess why Lucius had decided to tell him, there was that shit about helping a friend in the future but with every passing moment Blaise was beginning to believe that less and less.

Maybe it was just tiredness or stress talking, but now that Blaise thought about it; he had absolutely no idea what was going on in the world of the Slytherins, he was never told anything. All he knew was that Voldemort was building an army for an unknown reason. His mother was right, a war was coming and Blaise had absolutely zero idea where he stood.

However he had no clue as to what his mother meant about there being more than one side. Sure, Blaise knew it was more complicated than a light side and a dark side, but there were still only two sides. The Order of the Phoenix and the Slytherins. He couldn't think of one other side, let alone many. And he knew which side he was on, he was on the side of the Slytherins with his friends. The bad side.

However, Blaise knew that the Slytherins couldn't be all bad. Hermione was joining their side, and she was the best person he knew. Draco was with them as well and he was Blaise's best mate. Even Lucius had a pinch of compassion.

Groaning, Blaise slammed his suitcase shut and massaged his temples. All of this was giving him a massive headache. Dragging his luggage downstairs he slouched over to where Lucius was standing by the front door.

Giving him a sarcastic grin Blaise mock-saluted, "Where to, captain?"

Lucius rolled his eyes and walked out of the door, followed closely by Blaise. They walked up to a black car and Lucius gestured for him to get in the back. How a car could be both flashy and noncommittal, Blaise would never be able to figure out. It was one of Lucius' finer talents.

Having shoved his luggage in the boot, Blaise climbed in to the back seat and shoved some headphones over his ears. They then disappeared into the night.

Blaise groaned and banged his head against the desk. After being dragged out of his hotel bed at nine in the morning, he was then hauled to Lucius' office where a mountain of paperwork lay before his eyes. It was now eight in the evening, and Blaise had only taken one half-hour break to eat.

Massaging his temples, he groaned again and glared at Lucius, "Why the hell do we have to do so much damn paperwork for one measly meeting?"

Lucius sighed, "The majority of it isn't for meeting, it's just business I have to have cleared up before tomorrow."

"Yeah, no shit it isn't to do with the meeting. It's just security clearances and background checks and loads of fucking financial-"

"Blaise," Lucius scolded, "mind your tongue. If you speak like that at the meeting tomorrow then you will-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll have my tongue pulled out or whatever. Tell me about this damn meeting, is Voldemort even going to be there?"

Lucius shrugged, "I have no idea. He keeps very much to himself."

Blaise huffed, "Great. Has anyone actually seen him or is he just an invention to boost moral?"

"Oh, he's very much real Blaise, and not at all what one would expect." Lucius said, leaning back in his chair, "As for the meeting; here are the essentials."

He dropped a folder down in front of Blaise and looked at him expectantly. Blaise opened the folder and shook out the sheets of paper inside. The one on top was the classical sheet of paper blank apart from the 'Top Secret' stamped across it in bold red.

The next page had a picture of a man at the top and relevant information about him below. If one were to take a brief glance at the picture they would find nothing amiss. However, if you looked at it more closely you would see that the man in the photo had some distinctly odd features. His face was hard; harder than normal, with a large mouth with the tips of his incisors visible. His eyes were small and the whites had a very yellow tinge to them. The irises themselves were practically black. All in all, he did not look at all friendly.

"Fenrir Greyback," started Lucius, "our first successful experiment. His abilities are all massively increased but some of his characteristics are peculiar. Being violent by nature; he and the rest of the successful subjects have developed a pecking order that is drafted by how long they have been turned and then finalised through combat. Greyback has successfully retained the position of 'alpha' for a long enough period of time that hardly any of the others challenge him anymore."

"But surely you, or your superiors, can control Greyback and his 'pack'?"

Lucius tapped his fingers against the wood of the desk, "To a certain extent, yes we can. However, the way they think and the way they act is solely drawn from a basic animal instinct. This therefore makes them sexist, arrogant and quick to draw blood. This in turn makes them hard to control."

Blaise nodded, "So the meeting is about how to control them?"

"Exactly, they are essential to our cause and until Miss Granger comes up with a way to stop the animal instinct we need to put them on a leash so to speak."

"What exactly is our cause, Lucius?"

Lucius suddenly stiffened, "That is a complicated question with an even more complicated answer. I would advise that you discover it for yourself," he said crisply before standing up and sweeping out of the door.

Blaise sighed and stood up, making his way out of the door after Lucius.

After another early morning get up with a lot of moaning on Blaise's part, they finally reached the destination of the meeting. It didn't look particularly foreboding at all, it was just a small corner shop selling various trinkets.

The little old lady behind the desk scurried over to them when Lucius strode in looking like he owned the place. She adjusted her spectacles and rocked nervously on her heels, "Can I help with anything at all?"

Lucius nodded, "Yes, I'd like some hand-knitted socks."

The lady nodded, her mouth forming a small 'oh,' "Any particular preferences?"

"Black with green snakes would be ideal."

The lady nodded and beckoned for them to follow her. She led them through the little door to the side into the storage room and over to a large mirror covered with various material scraps. She felt around the edge for a moment until a defining 'click' was heard and the mirror swung open to reveal a metal door with a keypad. The old lady nodded to them again and then bustled back into her shop.

Lucius quickly entered a six digit code and the door swung open, a small room revealed. They stepped into it and the metal door shut again. It was only when the small room began to move downwards that Blaise realised it was an elevator.

Blaise coughed, "So, what should I-"

"Don't speak unless spoken to, don't make eye contact and don't offer to shake hands with someone you're meeting," Lucius rattled off in a monotone.

Blaise nodded, rolling his eyes inwardly at Lucius' drama. His thoughts suddenly swung to Hermione, and he realised that she would have already done the test run yesterday. He felt like an idiot for not calling her and seeing how it went. When the elevator stopped moving and the steel door opened into an ominous corridor of black marble; he realised it could wait until later.

Lucius walked confidently out of the elevator, his cane tapping along the polished marble floor. Blaise however was not so sure, and followed behind him wary even of his own shadow. After several twists and turns throughout the spooky corridor, they finally reached a large set of double doors. Swinging them open self-importantly, Lucius strode into the room and immediately the quiet chatter died down.

The room turned out to be more of a hall, holding at least thirty people sitting around a very long table. The chair at the head of the table was empty; but the grandest Blaise had ever seen. Evidently it was the throne of none other than Voldemort himself.

"Ah, Lucius," a voice called out from near the head of the table, "so good of you to grace us with your presence at last."

Lucius smirked and walked to the head of the table, where he took the seat to the left of the head. The man on the right, the one who had greeted him, sat back in his chair. He was tall and thin, with greying brown hair and thin lips. His eyes glinted dangerously around the room and his long, spindly fingers drummed against the wood of the table.

"I had to use the shop entrance," said Lucius "that damned code, why the hell does it have to be about socks?"

"Now, now Lucius," came none other than Snape's voice, Blaise should have known he'd be present, "You know that it's standard procedure."

Lucius sneered, "I could care less about standard procedure. I take it the Dark Lord is not joining us today?"

The thin dangerous looking man replied, "No, not today." His eyes swung to Blaise, "Who's this Lucius?"

Lucius motioned for Blaise to step forward, "This here is Blaise Zabini. He's to join the council soon along with my son."

"Ah, Blaise," the man purred, "I am so glad that you came to join us. Tell me, do you feel honoured to be joining our noble cause?"

Here it was; the cause thing again. Blaise really had no idea if he as honoured or not, but his self-preservation answered for him, "Yes sir, I am so glad to finally be serving under Lord Voldemort."

The man nodded slowly, "That's good. My name is Marcus, and I am one of Lord Voldemort's right-hand men. Lucius and Severus are my… partners if you will."

Blaise nodded, already knowing that Lucius and Snape were in deep with Voldemort, "I hope that I can be an asset to him and to you, sir."

Marcus chuckled, "Such impeccable manners, but there's really no need. Come and sit, the meeting is just about to begin."

Just then a bell rang somewhere and everybody scrambled to their seats. Blaise looked around for a free chair, and swallowed his discomfort when Marcus grinned slyly and gestured to the empty one next to him.

As he sat down, Marcus stood up and addressed everybody in a confident manner, "Welcome everybody. As I'm sure you all know; we are meeting here today to discuss the situation with Fenrir and his pack. The animal is extremely difficult to control and we need a way to control him. Severus, if you will?"

Snape stood up and in his usual monotonous drawl said, "The only way we are going to successfully control him is to make him think he's getting more out of it then us. We therefore need to make a deal of sorts with him. We give him something and we get subordination in return."

"But we've already given him something," an eager voice yelled from near the bottom of the table, "we've given him the opportunity to follow our Lord and Master Voldemort!"

"Silence!" bellowed Marcus, "That alone is not enough, we need something else. Something that appeals to animals."

There was a loud bang from a small door to the side of the hall and through it swept about the most unhinged woman Blaise had ever met.

"Oh please," she sneered, "you are so clueless, Marcus."

Marcus' lips thinned and he glared at the woman, "Bellatrix, how nice of you to join us, would you care to sit down?"

The woman, who sported dark clothes and an unruly mass of oil-black hair scoffed, "I'm not staying for long boys, I just thought I'd help out with the mentally constipated group for a little while."

Lucius pinched the bridge of his nose, "And what is it exactly that you can contribute Bellatrix?" he said in a tight voice; apparently this Bellatrix wasn't very popular.

"You know the problem with you lot is that you try to differentiate between man and animal. To us woman, you're one in the same," she cackled gleefully.

"For God's sake woman, just get to the point," Snape drawled.

Bellatrix frowned, "In my experience, men are only interested in three things; power, food and sex. Since Greyback already has power being the alpha and has no qualms against ripping animals to shreds for his meals; the guy needs a shag buddy."

Blaise gagged, this woman was truly insane. "Can't he just use one of his female pack mates?" someone called out.

Bellatrix shook her head and grinned lecherously, "All his pack mates are vicious, they won't ever let him have complete control. Remember what I said, men love power, food and sex. Fenrir wants all three at once. He wants someone he can completely break, someone who he can bend to his every whim."

Blaise was now feeling sick, and he wasn't the only one. Several members of the table looked to be thoroughly uncomfortable. However, what made Blaise feel like vomiting; was that several other people around the table were grinning slimily and all but rubbing their hands together. Sick bastards.

Marcus looked to be considering it, "It could work Bellatrix, but where would we find someone? And what if he doesn't like who we choose?"

Bellatrix scoffed, "It doesn't matter where you find someone, I'll leave that one up to you. The only hint I'll give you before I leave you kiddies alone is that you should present him with a choice. He'll feel more in control that way. Ooh, look at the time, I must be off! Ciao."

Then she proceeded to sashay out of the room in a rather crazed manner, leaving a very mixed atmosphere."

Finally, Marcus spoke, "She might be half-mad, but she's rarely wrong when it comes to the more twisted things in life. I say we give it a go and provide Fenrir with a plaything."

"How about we let him choose from the prisoners?" Someone shouted, "That way, suspicions won't arise."

Marcus nodded, "I agree, that would be for the best."

"What happens when he kills the unfortunate girl, as he invariably will?" asked Lucius in a bored tone, but Blaise knew him well enough to know that he was masking disgust.

The same could not be said for Marcus, "It is of no concern to me, we'll just provide him with a shiny new one. I believe we have solved this problem gentlemen, now onto more interesting topics."

There was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, and Blaise spotted the tail end of a secretive glance between Lucius and Marcus.

"As you know," announced Lucius, "there will be an initiation ceremony on December 25th and two new people will be joining the council. The first is my son, Draco Malfoy."

Nobody was surprised at this and Lucius continued, "The second is none other than Blaise Zabini."

At this the room exploded into whispers as people eyed Blaise up. Clearly they knew about what had transpired between him and his father.

"It is my hope that you will embrace them as part of our community and that we shall all benefit from their skills."

Blaise frowned and turned to Lucius, "Didn't you say that Hermione was to amongst the new recruits as well?"

Marcus sniggered, "Is that what you told the boy?"

Suddenly, Blaise felt uneasy, "What have I missed?" he asked.

Lucius grinned, "Of course Hermione will be amongst the new recruits, once we've cleared up a few things regarding her."

"Lucius, you must tell me about this girl!" said Marcus dramatically.

He smirked and turned to Blaise, "I think young Mr Zabini here is more than capable of sharing this little discovery," he said, looking at Blaise smugly.

Blaise gulped, something strange was going on here, "Well, she's extraordinarily clever. She knows five languages and is skilled enough that Snape has just taken her on working with the serum. She's also trained in karate and is quite capable of fighting off multiple untrained opponents. I've seen her do it."

Marcus grinned and folded his arms together, "She certainly sounds like a little miracle. Tell me, what is this girl's name?"

"Hermione Rivers, sir," said Blaise.

"Hermione Rivers," he repeated slowly, "Lucius?"

Lucius cleared his throat haughtily, "Hermione Rivers, a lovely name don't you agree? Shortly after I employed her I created a massive search on the internet for her. Standard procedure, you know. I found all the mandatory paperwork, things that could be forged but nothing more than that. No Facebook, no Instagram, no Twitter. My first thought was just that she wasn't exactly a social butterfly, but that didn't really sit well with me."

"Mr Malfoy," said Blaise nervously, "what exactly are you trying to say?"

Marcus chuckled, "Hermione Rivers doesn't exist, Blaise. She never did. Hermione Granger on the other hand, is very real."

Blaise's eyebrows shot up, "Hermione Granger? Her surname's not Granger, it's Rivers!"

"That's what you were supposed to think. She's not who you think she is Blaise," said Lucius. Blaise turned to him in horror.

"You knew? All this time you knew?"

Lucius nodded slowly, "Yes Blaise, almost right from the start."

Blaise slumped back in his chair, not knowing what to think, "Why would she lie about something like that?"

Marcus scoffed and stood up aggressively from his chair, "Why don't you ask her yourself?" he spat, motioning to the massive doors. They opened and Blaise got a very bad feeling in his stomach when he saw two men dragging a bound woman with a bag over her head into the room

His fears were confirmed when the bag was ripped from her head to reveal a very terrified Hermione. Her eyes darted around the room in alarm and then they locked very suddenly on the smug figure of Marcus.

If it was possible, she became even more frightened and bucked wildly against the two men holding her. She managed to kick the feet of one of them under and as he fell to the ground she kicked him again in the chin which caused him to let go of one of her arms. She used that arm to elbow the other man fiercely in the stomach causing him to double over in pain, which gave her the perfect opportunity to sweep him off his feet and onto the hard ground.

She then crouched into a defensive position; her eyes scanning the room in a feral manner. She was acting purely on instinct, Blaise had seen it before when she had stopped Blaise's fist from connecting with her face all those weeks ago in the library. However that was just play; this was very real.

When Hermione caught sight of him her face fell and Blaise was tempted to run and embrace her; he didn't care about the Slytherins, Hermione was one of his best friends.

"What's going on," she squeaked, clearly frightened for her life. Blaise heard Marcus scoff.

"Hello Hermione, it is so good to finally meet you. Blaise told me all about you, about how you can fight off multiple untrained opponents, but these men aren't untrained. In fact, they are the opposite and you still got the better of them. I will admit I am impressed, but it takes more than a few karate skills to do what you just did. I believe you are trained in a lot more areas of martial arts?"

Hermione slowly straightened, glaring defiantly at Marcus, "Why should I tell you anything?" she spat.

He tutted, "Now now, Hermione, I think you should be a bit more polite. After all, I'm the one holding all the cards."

She frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I know everything; your name, your skills, why you pursued employment with Lucius. The question is; are you willing to admit it?"

Hermione's face was ashen, her honey eyes helplessly searching for a way out. She remained silent.

Marcus grinned like a shark, "Then how about I tell you and everyone in this room? And then we'll see what Lord Voldemort has to say about it."

She cast her eyes downward; Blaise could see the tears forming in her eyes. She seemed to be muttering something quietly under her breath, but it was too quiet for him to hear.

Marcus was still grinning, "Let me tell you a story, little Hermione…"

Ooh, tensions are rising! Next chapter we skip over into Hermione's head! Please review and I hope you enjoyed!

GoldieXx