DISCLAIMER: All of the characters in the Harry Potter series belong to JK Rowling.

Thank you all so much for being here and taking time to read my work!

Just a quick note, in this story Hermione does not know Snape is a double agent. Neither did Harry nor Ron.

Let me know what your thoughts are, I always appreciate you taking time to leave me a comment.

Enjoy!

Catelyn xx

[RATED M FOR LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL CONTENT]

Six years at Hogwarts and not even once she had hated Draco Malfoy as much as she did that day. The day when the Dark Lord – she wasn't even allowed to think his name anymore – asked him who she was. And, obviously, if a Malfoy has to save their own life, they will do it with a certain style: she had never received so many compliments from him – she'd never received any compliments from him. The most clever witch of her age, one of the best students Hogwarts had ever had, she knew every one of Harry Potter's secrets, etcetera.

Beyond every expectation – hers or his – the Dark Lord had been surprised by Hermione's magical gifts and, once verified that was the truth, he decided that she would be his one and only Mudblood Death Eater, not without all the scorn of his other followers.

Harry and Ron had been killed the very day Greyback took them to the Manor, and, consequently, the Dark Lord considered the war over. As for her initiation to the Death Eaters, the Dark Lord gave her a choice. A life for a life. Either she took the Mark willingly, binding herself to him for the rest of her life, or Ron would become Bellatrix's new toy. The answer was obvious. She would not allow Bellatrix to torture her friend into insanity, even if that meant giving up her own life.

An hour later, she was Marked and in her new bedroom at Malfoy Manor. Hemione learned the hard way what the consequences were for getting him angry, and he could find her anywhere, so there wasn't really a point in running or disobeying.

He didn't need to keep Hogwarts under control, so he allowed the old teachers, the ones who were still alive, to come back to school, probably deciding that Snape's directorship was enough and didn't need the Carrows. There were no Houses anymore, the Slytherin colors and emblem would be applied to the whole school.

It was a rainy day when the Dark Lord gave the news to his Death Eaters. Though over-age, Draco and Hermione had to finish their magical instruction. The seventh year Hermione, Harry and Ron didn't attend school for hadn't been finished. When the students of Hogwarts learned about his death – Ron's was kept lowkey, he wasn't deemed that important – there had been a small revolt at the school and the school year had to be suspended. Everyone would repeat the year.

That was the moment Hermione decided she had to get on the Lord's good side. The new law was clear: every proper wizard had to complete their instruction at Hogwarts, willing or not, and that meant Luna, Ginny, Neville and the rest of her old friends would be there.

Still hugging her pillow, not even fully awake, Hermione was trying to ignore the knocking.

"What?" She mumbled.

"Miss Granger?" A House-elf opened the door and the witch felt sorry for being unintentionally rude to her.

"Missy, can I help you?"

"Miss Granger, Dark Lord wants speak to you."

The girl sighed and pulled the pillow over her head, thanking the elf. Not even ten minutes later, she left the room, dressed and ready for whatever he had in store for her that day.

As expected, the Death Eaters were already there, sat at the majestic table of the Drawing Room, the seat at the Dark Lord's left empty. She had earned it a few days earlier, and, although she had aimed for the seat at his right, Bellatrix seemed to have applied a Permanent Sticking Charm on the chair, so she had Snape shift over a seat. She had a feeling she would never be on his good side after that.

"You're here because of the new developments on the Hogwarts front," the Dark Lord announced, then turned to her. "As I'm sure you know, Miss Granger, your former friends will be there but I forbid you to any type contact with them. They may not wish you well after they know where your new allegiances stand."

It had been insane to see the change in the Dark Lord's manners towards her, after so many rebels she had located – more or less willingly – and, if she hadn't known better, she would have thought he was being thoughtful.

She had seen Bellatrix's punishment for failing a mission, though, and there was no Death Eater more fond of him than her. Hermione knew perfectly well that was only his way of making sure his source of information – information not even Snape could have – wouldn't go wasted.

"I'll stay away from them, my Lord." She answered, trying to keep her voice composed.

"Good. I suppose the young Mr Malfoy will have no problem helping you with anything you may need."

Hermione turned towards Malfoy, who only nodded, noticeably trying not to disobey.

"I understand your reluctance, Draco, but Dumbledore was at least right about one thing: The Sorting happens way too early." Snape imperceptibly flinched at that. "It doesn't matter anymore, of course, but I doubt the Sorting Hat would still scream Gryffindor! now."

Of course, the Hat would sort her into Gryffindor once again, Hermione thought. Despite everything that was happening, she was still trying to protect her friends, just like she only was a Death Eater because she didn't want to let Ron become Bellatrix's hobby.

After receiving their Hogwarts letters, with the same list of books and – surprise, surprise – the Head Girl and Boy badges, Hermione and Draco headed to Diagon Alley to buy everything they needed. She quickly abandoned every hope of going unnoticed because of Malfoy's way to noticeable hair and, most of all, due to Nagini, their escort for the day, as the Dark Lord had demanded.

Finally at Flourish & Blott's, Hermione left Draco buying the books for both of them and, ignoring the manager's terrified gaze, she went exploring the isles of books, searching for something that could make her feel normal again.

Leafing through a tome about the evolution of magical creatures, it was too late when she only noticed the presence of Molly and Ginny Weasley, who were looking at her like she was the Dark Lord herself. She immediately closed the book and returned to the main area of the shop, hoping they didn't recognize her and that Nagini climbing on her leg would help.

She found Malfoy with the manager, paying for their stuff.

"Come on, we have to go."

"What's the matter, Granger? We have the whole afternoon." He Shrunk the books and shoved them into his pocket.

Hermione took a deep breath and clenched her fists to prevent herself from hexing him, "Malfoy, I'm not joking. We need to go, now."

"Hermione?" Ginny's voice called.

Only then Malfoy decided to turn around and acknowledge her. Hermione wanted to talk to them way too much for someone who had been ordered not to. She didn't notice the Dark Mark was almost entirely visible from the three quarters sleeve she was wearing under her cloak. Mrs. Weasely was staring at it, horrified. Ginny's eyes were tearing up.

The only thing echoing in her head were the words Malfoy was pronouncing with a smirk, "Well, well, Granger, you're disobeying the Dark Lord, again? The sheer Gryffindor courage suites you, I have to admit," he burst into laughter and she couldn't help but point her wand at his throat. The smirk was gone from his face, replaced by an annoyed grimace.

"Go on, do it," he spat, but she was positive she'd be punished if they came back to the Manor and Malfoy wasn't in the exact shape he'd left in.

Behind her Ginny and Mrs. Weasley had backed away. Hermione turned around and looked at them, hoping they would understand, and left the shop, "Come, Nagini."

After an afternoon of school supplies shopping, they finally made it back at Malfoy Manor. Following what had occurred at the bookshop, Malfoy recovered quite quickly and got back to his snarky, spoiled self, bragging about how he was going to tell the Dark Lord she'd disobeyed his orders.

"For the last time, I have not. I have barely looked at them and guess what. I know about your secret encounters with the little Greengrass. I can assure you, Malfoy, that if I go down because of you, you're coming down with me," Hermione hissed, after feeling Nagini finally getting away from her, probably going back to her master.

"What is going on here?" Narcissa Malfoy's low voice interrupted them and they both turned around.

"Nothing's happening, Mrs Malfoy. I was right about to go to sleep, it's been a long day and I'm not very hungry," she glanced at him one last time and headed to her room.

Hermione had been rolling over in her bed for hours, not getting any sleep. The only thing she could think about was that they knew about her. They knew and they would hate her. She couldn't go back to Hogwarts, see them every day and pretend they didn't exist. They would hate her and she wasn't ready to see hate in their eyes. She found herself wishing she was more like Malfoy, as wrong as it sounded, who wouldn't show any emotion to save his life.

The first time she heard knocking she thought she imagined it. The second time was louder, so she got up, hoping the Dark Lord didn't decide to have a meeting in the middle of the night. With her great surprise, she found Malfoy waiting in front of her bedroom door.

"What do you want?"

"This is an official request for political asylum," he said, a sarcastic tone in his voice.

"What? Why? Your room is huge, barricade yourself in there." She was about to close the door, but he stopped her.

"This is precisely the problem. There are some…" he took a deep breath, "Noises, coming from the room next to mine. People in here apparently don't know how to cast a bloody silencing spell." His voice was low and full of contempt – as usual – but this time it didn't seem to be directed at her.

Hermione raised a brow. "That's it? You're making this whole scene for some noise? It's absurd, even for you."

"Do let me know when there's someone in your family fucking the Dark Lord next door." It seemed like admitting that had cost him his entire fortune. Hermione merely grimaced, disgusted. She didn't even get to think about an answer, when the boy added, "I don't want to talk about it. Will you let me in or not?"

In spite of herself, she let him in. "Fine. But you're sleeping on the floor."

"I am a Malfoy," he said, like it was the most obvious thing on earth.

"I don't see your point."

"My point is I'm not sleeping on the floor," Malfoy almost shouted.

"If you want to come back to your room so you can have a bed all to yourself, no one's stopping you."

He scowled for a few seconds, then took a pillow from her bed and tossed it to the other side of the room, pointing his wand at it and transfiguring it into another four-poster like hers. Hermione rolled her eyes.

Bellatrix Lestrange was the one to wake them up the next day, not without Hermione's surprise, or hers, seeing Draco in her bedroom. To Bellatrix's defence, the situation was more than unusual.

The Dark Lord had obviously announced another meeting, and why would Bellatrix waste such a good opportunity to crawl at the feet of her master?

"Draco, how can you even stand to share your air with a Mudblood?" She asked him, looking like she was about to vomit.

Malfoy didn't even look up from the pillow he had buried his head under and Hermione was trying to keep in mind she could not hex her.

"I thought the Dark Lord told you not to call her that anymore. I have no intention of attending another punishment," he said.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes at him. "He may have mentioned that. Why did you spend the night here?"

"Before you answer that, could you take this outside?" Hermione intervened. "I should get dressed and you both know how much he hates late-comers." She somehow managed to find the strength to get the blankets off her and open the closet without even looking at the two leaving her room.

Draco would have preferred running naked in the Forbidden Forest at night, rather than being in that bloody hallway alone with his aunt.

"Well? I demand an answer, Draco," she repeated.

"Believe me, you don't," he muttered, hoping to get her off that topic.

"Yes, I do. Tell me, now."

Luckily, they'd arrived in front of his bedroom door, where Draco stopped and, taking a deep breath, turned around to face her. "Do try to be quieter, I don't want to sleep at Granger's again."

He entered his room and locked it, feeling almost reassured when he didn't hear any hexes in the hallway. He didn't see his aunt's face, the face of someone who'd just got deeply offended.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Draco was sitting in his usual seat in the Drawing Room of Malfoy Manor and looking at Granger.

"Death Eaters," the Dark Lord started as he took his seat, "I have caught wind there is a base of the Order in the countryside of the Muggle London. I know you are eager to fight, so I will make this quick. I want you to Apparate there and kill every man, woman or child you find. I do not care whether they are Purebloods, Half-bloods or Mudbloods, I want them dead. Have I made myself clear?"

As his red eyes scanned the room, the immediate murmurs of approval were a confirmation that he had indeed made himself clear.

In the meanwhile, though, Draco was still looking at Granger. The girl was pretty damn close to being an open book. He could clearly see she was evidently worried, probably thinking there were some of her old friends among the people they were supposed to kill, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. Draco barely restrained himself from snorting.

He'd never looked at her closely and now that he did, the only thing that came to his mind were questions about how she'd managed to stay alive that long. She was so easy to read he was surprised the Dark Lord hadn't killed her yet.

"Bellatrix, my dear, you, along with Hermione, Yaxley, Draco, Dolohov, Macnair and Nott will be the ones to go."

It was time to do something.

Hermione was about to leave the Drawing Room when Malfoy grabbed her arm and dragged her into a hallway. She would have hexed him but she saw the room was still pretty full, so she left her wand right where it was.

"What the hell, Malfoy!" As soon as they were in a deserted hallway, she turned around and faced him.

"Do you even try not to get me killed? Or was that your intent all along?"

"What are you talking about?" Like he hadn't been the one to throw her right in the snake's maw.

"You may not get it but he ordered me to keep you alive, so if something happens to you, I won't live long enough to have a laugh at it," he hissed and looked around to make sure no one had followed them.

"I didn't do or say anything that could get me, or you, killed."

"At least try not to let them see how much you don't want to kill those people."

"I don't want to kill them, how can I pretend I do? They're my friends!" She looked at him in disbelief.

"Not anymore," his voice was, as usual, cold as ice.

"How do you do that?" She muttered. "How do you make it look like the only thing you feel is boredom? Like you're too good to even dignify us with your attention."

He scoffed. "You want to know how I do it? Do not care. Think about something that bores you to death, whether it's History of Magic or the people surrounding you. Stare at something and don't let your eyes wander, act like nothing else but you exists. Do whatever the hell you want, Granger, but do it. In case you haven't noticed, the killing curse is not so unforgivable in here. I am not dying because of you." His grey eyes were hard and unbothered but she could tell he was annoyed.

As soon as the Death Eaters Apparated at the borders of the Order's base, it all degenerated into chaos. Hermione was trying to do what Malfoy had mentioned earlier, desperately trying to focus on one thing only and not let her mind wander. Praying that her expression would remain blank, she recognized a few familiar faces: Tonks, Lupin, Andromeda Tonks and, behind them, some barely over-age boys she had seen in the hallways in Hogwarts. Her head told her they were Slytherins but she hoped she was wrong.

Weeks before, the Dark Lord had decided there was no point in hiding behind their masks anymore, since he now controlled the whole Ministry of Magic, so she was completely exposed. Hermione was invaded by panic when Tonks and Lupin's eyes landed on her but she forced herself to stay focused.

It wasn't the first time she was in an attack group, nor the first time the attack was directed at the Order, and this time couldn't, or shouldn't, be different for any reason. Malfoy was just out of the corner of her eye and she saw him slightly jump when a killing cursed missed Andromeda for mere inches and she tried to Stun him.

In the meanwhile, Hermione was dealing with what she remembered to be a Slytherin who, although not being great with spells, was giving her a hard time because of her low attention. When the kid almost hexed her, she decided to push everything out her mind and only focus on him. She Stunned him senseless and took a deep breath before pointing the wand at him and pronounce the spell but Dolohov stopped her.

"Leave this one to me, you go check the house." He didn't even look at her, his whole attention was on the unconscious boy in front of him.

She nodded and headed to the house to check if there were others, though she doubted it. After checking the empty bedrooms and baths and every other room she found, she ran down the stairs and went check the last door, that she found being locked. Hermione tried with a quick Alohomora, that didn't even make the door flinch, then with a sigh she Blasted it open.

What she saw almost made her lose balance. Blaise Zabini and Luna Lovegood – who was carrying a child in her arms, Teddy Lupin, she supposed – both turned towards her. Behind them, the curtains were closed on the window.

Hermione's eyes fell on their joined hands, then on Zabini, who flinched and looked at her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The less she knew, the better. "Get lost. Apparate, or use a Portkey, I don't care. Just get the hell out of here, or they'll kill you."

"We can't." Blaise looked like his old self again and Luna, next to him, had her usual dreamy expression and a vague smile on her lips, "The wards won't let us and there are Death Eaters on the front, we can't get out."

Hermione sighed and grabbed the first thing she saw, which in that case was a mug. She put it on the table between the three of them. "Luna, give me your wand," she said. "Quickly."

The girl handed it to her and she used it to cast a Portus on the mug, thinking of the Burrow.

The use of the spell that created a Portkey was strictly monitored by the Ministry – hence by the Death Eaters – and she couldn't be caught using it.

The mug glowed of an eerie blue and then came back to normal. Hermione handed Luna back her wand. "This will take you to the Burrow. If you tell someone I've helped you, I will find you and kill you both myself." Hermione knew that was a lie as soon as she said it. If anyone ever found out, the Dark Lord would kill her first.

"Thank you," Luna smiled and dragged a confused Blaise to touch the mug at the same moment as her, then they disappeared.