Hermione could not hide the scowl on her face when she discovered Snape in the breakfast room the next morning. She had purposely tried to be earlier than any normal person would want to eat in the morning, yet here he was, drinking coffee and reading the paper. Again.

"Good morning, Miss Granger," he greeted her, actually turning around and nodding. As though nothing happened the day before. As though this was normal.

With a huff, she plopped down on the same chair as the previous day. "Don't expect me to be polite back."

Just like the previous morning, he carefully folded the newspaper and put it down next to his plate. "I don't expect anything of you. Your presence here is in itself so strange that it would be insanity to even try to expect something."

Learning from her mistake, Hermione grabbed a slice of buttered toast instead of eggs and bacon. Maybe she would get used to his presence at some point, but for now, she felt her stomach grow cold and hard by the mere sight of him. Eating in the mornings would become even harder than it already was for her.

Snape continued to sip his coffee in silence without eating anything or getting back to his paper. He didn't even really look at her. It was unnerving and she hated how much she felt like she was back at Hogwarts. As though this man had any right to call himself professor still.

She tried to distract herself with a nice cup of tea and another slice of toast, but the silence in the room became too oppressive. She couldn't stand it.

"Will I have to suffer your presence every day then?" She had no patience to mince her words.

"I'm afraid so," he replied cooly. "I offered to our Dark Lord to leave you in peace, but he made very clear that on the contrary, I should make sure we always breakfast together."

With a sigh, she dropped the half-eaten toast. "Of course he would. Bastard."

"Miss Granger. A word of advice. It is not good for your health to talk about our lord in this way. He does not appreciate it." Snape sounded as flat as ever, his dark eyes not betraying any emotion he might feel.

She could only laugh. "Thank you for your concern, professor. It might have escaped your notice, but he is not my lord. He might be yours, for whatever reason, but I am no follower."

"What are you then?"

She shrugged. "As I said yesterday, I do not know."

Snape plucked a single grape from the fruit platter and chewed it slowly while studying her with his expressionless eyes. "Don't you find it concerning that you do not know?"

"Concerning?" She almost shouted before catching herself. "He almost killed Harry to persuade me to come here, and you ask me whether I find that concerning?"

A flicker of something appeared in Snape's face. It was just the briefest widening of his eyes, a short twitch in his neck. Too quick for her to really read what emotion was behind it. But the mention of Harry did finally get something out of him.

"You want me to belief that he had the chance to kill Potter and did not do it, because he was too busy to … what? Kidnap you?"

Hermione knew very well how insane that sounded. She was herself still stunned about that. For someone who was obsessed with Harry to this degree to just let him slip through his hands again, willingly, without need, it only underlined Voldemort's insanity.

Only, he was not insane. Not in the least bit.

"Stop asking inane questions. Since when were you so chatty?" If Snape was confused, it could only serve her. That a small part of her was relishing the fact that she could pay back all those years of humiliation helped as well.

"I see," was all he said in reply.

To her surprise, he left it at that and went back to reading the paper. Or at least, pretending to read it. Even from the distance, she could clearly see the vacant look in his eyes as he obviously tried to make use of the information she just gave him. She did say more than she intended, she realised. She should not have mentioned Harry.

With her heart beating loudly, Hermione slowly pulled the heavy oak door open. After the unbearable breakfast, she decided that she might as well use her all-access privileges and finally seek out the library. A house elf, clearly desperate to be rid of her, kindly showed her the way and now here she was. Standing in the entrance to a treasure trove of unbelievable size.

Shelves upon shelves of old books, all in darkest wood and at least ten feet high, sprawled the grand hall. A gallery ran around all four walls, allowing a view from the top and housing even more bookshelves. At the far end, there was a heavy desk with a comfortable looking chair, inviting her to sit down and read for hours on end.

She swallowed against the knot that was forming in her throat and stepped fully into the library. The door fell shut behind her with the softest click. For the first time, she actually felt respect for the Malfoys. Despite everything, it was obvious that the family was dedicated to the preservation of knowledge. If only she had had access to all these books while attending Hogwarts. It was a mystery to her how Draco did not eclipse her in every single class with this much knowledge at his fingertips.

"So, you found your way here." The smooth voice of Lucius Malfoy shocked her out of her reverie.

Blinking rapidly, she turned to the blond wizard who was approaching her with slow, measured steps. Coming out of a long row of bookshelves, he did not look pleased to see her here.

"I was told I was allowed to go wherever I please," she replied, hoping that her voice did not betray how unsettled she was by his sudden appearance.

"Of course," Malfoy assured her with fake happiness, "it's my pleasure to open my humble book collection to someone of your understanding."

He came to a stop much too close for her liking, sneering down at her as though she was filth beneath his boot. Determined, Hermione squared her shoulders and met his gaze directly. "And it is my pleasure to be welcomed so. I will make sure the Dark Lord will hear about this. I'm certain he'll want to reward his loyal follower for the way you comply with his orders."

She could see pure hatred swim in his eyes, but the way he gripped his cane harder ever so slightly told her that he was indeed easily intimidated by the mere mention of Voldemort. After all those years hearing Draco tell her "My father will hear about this," it felt good to turn this around on the older Malfoy.

Hermione smiled sweetly at him. "If you have no other business with me, please excuse me. There is research waiting for me."

She could see his jaws work as he seemingly debated what to do. Then he offered through gritted teeth, "If you need any assistance finding your way around the library, please be sure to let me know."

The tables really had turned. Hermione had to suppress a laugh, but she quickly denied the offer. "No, thank you. I think I can manage."

To her surprise, he lingered a moment longer, before giving a curt nod and exiting through the door behind her. As the door clicked shut again, Hermione turned towards the bookshelves in earnest. It was time to get familiar with the cataloguing system.

It was already past midnight when she returned to her room. Her eyes were burning and she could feel the muscles in her neck starting to ache. Despite her best efforts, she still had not found any more on auras than she already knew.

Hermione slipped into her room and closed the door as quietly as possible. The last thing she wanted was to wake her room neighbour. If she could escape him for one full day, she would count that as a happy day.

The moment she turned on the magical lamps in her bedroom, she fell to the ground, intense pleasure gripping her whole body.

"There you are. My sweet." Voldemort lounged on her bed, smiling casually as he pushed his magic against her. "I've missed you."

Pressing her lips together, breathing slowly through her mouth, she tried to control the arousal that was threatening to overtake her brain. She would not fall to this so easily. With every bit of willpower that she had left, she struggled onto all fours, hands planted firmly on the ground. The heat between her legs was almost unbearable. A moan was caught in her throat, silent, but ever present. She just knew that the moment she allowed even a single sound to come out of her mouth, she had lost.

"Ah, dearest Hermione, why do you fight this?" He was openly mocking her now. "Do you dislike feeling good so much? Would you prefer to feel bad?"

She couldn't reply, couldn't even look up. She could only shake her head, hands curling into fists, as she tried to keep her hips from gyrating against nothing.

Voldemort sat up and his two feet came into her field of vision as they touched the carpet in front of her bed. She noticed now that he wore simple black pants instead of his usual robe. Before she could stop herself, she started crawling towards him on all fours.

"Yes, come here, my sweet," he coaxed her closer.

Unable to resist the pull of his voice, she crawled to him until she was between his legs. She closed her eyes, trying to keep him out, but she felt her mind slipping.

"Look at me," he ordered her and she had nothing left to fight against it.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked up, directly into his snake-like eyes. He was smiling cruelly at her, but it was enough. The sight of him overruled any sane thought she still had. With a groan, she leaned forward, nuzzling her face against his crotch.

"Yesss," he hissed, using both of his hands to push her hair away. "Isn't this better? Doesn't this feel good?"

She could feel him grow hard and another wave of heat shot through her body. Only one thought was left. The certainty that all she needed was his cock inside of her. She swallowed hard, salivating at the thought.

"Ah, maybe I overdid it a little," Voldemort mused while stroking her cheek. "I did mean to punish you for making me wait, but we wouldn't want you completely out of it, right?"

The burning ice of his magic subsided. She could feel it slide over her, caressing her, but also letting go of her. Slowly, something akin to another thought rose up inside of her.

"Is this … are you going to do this every night?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Do what every night?"

She moaned despite herself. He looked so displeased, sounded so impatient. It stoked the fire of her lust even more. Sweating, she licked her lips. "Overwhelm me with that … that aura thing and then … use me?"

A toothy grin appeared on his lips. "My sweet, I will never do anything to you that you don't explicitly ask of me."

His voice engulfed her like a warm blanket. Slipped into her mind, clouding it, drawing her in. She could almost hear a whisper beneath it. Another message. Some other thing that he was not telling her. She wished she could think clearly. If only he would touch her. She needed it.

She shook her head desperately. No. She would not allow it. He pretended like this was something she wanted, but in truth, it was all his doing. This was no better than the Imperius Curse.

"I don't want this," she pressed out between gritted teeth. "I don't want to touch you. And I don't want you to touch me."

Voldemort tilted his head, studying her intently while she sat between his legs, no longer nuzzling his crotch, but still much too close for comfort. He tipped one long finger against his pale lips as if contemplating.

Finally, he let out a dramatic sigh. "Fine. You win. I said I wouldn't do anything you didn't ask for, and I am a man true to his word."

In an instant, his magical touch was gone. Hermione almost sobbed from pure relief. She wanted to get up, but just then, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders and kept her trapped between his legs.

"Now, my sweet witch, I kept my word and showed you that I am truthful. I want you to use this night to think deeply on how you present yourself to me in the future. I think I have earned a little more respect, mh?" He brushed one hand through her hair as he said the last words, smiling a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Hermione shuddered, but she nodded. "I will do that."

"Good girl," he purred, at last letting go of her.

She scrambled to get away from him and stand up, wrapping her arms around herself. It scared her how easily he could overpower her, and how easily her body would fall for it.

"I hope you get a good night's sleep still," he continued while he stood up as well. "It's Saturday tomorrow, so Severus is finally able to join us for the full day. Don't be late for breakfast, we will start early."

She blinked. "Start early? With what?"

His hand on her door handle, Voldemort turned around once more, looking down at her with that condescending grin again. "Why, your training of course."