Hi everyone and welcome here!

This story is a Voldemort / Hermione and it focuses primarily on these characters, although the other main characters shall not be very far. It begins in August 1998, few weeks before Hermione's 19th birthday. There was no prophecy, and Voldemort won the war in 1987, reigning unchallenged since then.

Warning: in this fanfiction Voldemort is powerful, cruel, and manipulative, and he will definitely not become a good guy after meeting Hermione.

The story is already written, and has 32 chapters. I will publish one each two weeks.

Please note that English is not my mother tongue, so there can be some mistakes I apologize for. I mostly write to improve my English writing skills. I do not have a beta reader, so if anyone would like to volunteer I will be grateful for the help.

For information this story also exists in French on the account Perhentian, where you can also find my favorite stories and among them a lot of LV/HG or LV/HP that inspired me.

Of course, Harry Potter is own by J. K. Rowling, only the story belongs to me.

I hope you will have a nice time reading this!

Perhentian

oOoOoOo

Chapter 1 - August 1998

"Come on Hermione! It's going to be really great!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

Hermione shook her head disapprovingly as she watched her cousin Anne jump madly all around the place. It was quite rare for her family to have her uncle, aunt and cousin visiting, as they lived in Manchester. But for once they had come to spend a few days in London in the middle of August and they stayed at her parent's home. And Anne had somehow managed to convince Hermione to take her to the funfair.

Hermione was not particularly thrilled to go, she would rather have continued to study in preparation of her freshman year at Oxford University, but she had promised to go. She had to admit that her thirteen years old cousin usually managed to get anything she wanted from her. They saw each other so rarely that she could hardly refuse to spend some time with her. Hermione quickly finished packing her bag and headed for the entrance, Anne bouncing just behind her.

"We're leaving," she said to the four adults in the living room while putting on her shoes.

"Have a good afternoon girls."

"And please be back in time for dinner!"

Hermione went with Anne in the Ferris wheel, in the haunted house and in the small roller coasters. But she refused to indulge her cousin by climbing into the kind of big ball that was propelled at huge speed into the sky. She had no desire to spend a minute screaming in fear and being shaken in all directions, thank you very much. They had also eaten far too much churros and even shared a cotton candy afterwards.

Hermione had to admit that she had had a good time. Her little cousin had obeyed her perfectly, and funfairs definitely cheer people up. And if she worked a few more hours tonight she would still manage to finish the algebra book required for her second semester at Oxford, and thus stick to her schedule.

"We should go back," she said to Anne as they wandered between the attractions without doing anything new.

"Let's stay a little more, please!" Anne replied.

"It's going to be dinner time soon."

"A last roller coaster ride and then we hurry back?" Anne suggested. "There is no queue at all."

"Fine," Hermione agreed. "But we do not stay afterwards, okay?"

"Yeah! Great! You are the best Hermione!"

Hermione smiled at the joyfulness of her little cousin. She hurried after her in the queue, got into the attraction, and laughed with her during the ride. She then announced that they really needed to come back. Anne was disappointed and tried to protest, but Hermione did not give in, and they finally set off.

A few moments later Anne was once again in a good mood, and began to tell her how much she hoped to be in the same class as some boy named Jeremy during the next school year. She was rambling about this Jeremy, pointing out that he was unbelievably nice and exceptionally handsome, twirling around at the same time until she found herself in the middle of the road. Hermione watched in horror as a huge black car headed straight towards her cousin and she instinctively threw herself between the car and Anne. She heard Anne's scream and tires screeching, and then the car collided with her back. The impact was less violent than she expected, but she was still thrown on the road, dragging Anne with her.

oOoOoOo

Tyler Greengrass cherished two things. One of them was power, and the other one his family. Pure-bloods for countless generations, the Greengrass family did not despise half-bloods and Muggle-borns. In fact, the fate of anyone outside Tyler's familial or professional circle was irrelevant to him. Thus, he had not participated in the wizarding war when it had started in the 70s. He had been starting at that time to manage the fortune his dead father had left him, and he had just married his lovely wife Helen. He had not wanted to risk his life in a war that had not directly targeted his family. Aurors were supposed to deal with such threats, not civilians.

When Lord Voldemort had finally won the war in 1987, he had first stayed discreet. But as the years had passed, he had came out of the shadows and had decided to take the lion's share. His determination and his political ability had worked well for him. Thus, when the Dark Lord had extended his influence to the surrounding countries and Lucius Malfoy had taken the foreign affairs direction, Tyler Greengrass had replaced him as British Minister of Magic.

Now Tyler Greengrass was one of the most important Death Eaters. He was working directly with Lord Voldemort, the undisputed leader of the magical alliance gathering the majority of European countries. He was in the Death Eater's first circle's meetings, together with Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape and Bellatrix Lestrange, and he was aware of the Dark Lord's political plans regarding his upcoming conquests. He did not approve the slavery of Muggle-borns, but he would never risk his family position to try to help them.

Overall, he was satisfied: the Dark Lord was pleased with him, his wife and two daughters Daphne and Astoria were living comfortably thanks to his position, and he loved his work. Except the day of his monthly visit to the Muggle Prime Minister, who was a self-centered idiot, not even realizing that he still existed solely because Tyler had been ordered to maintain cordial relations with the Muggles, so they would not stick their impure noses in wizard's business.

And today was unfortunately one of those days, which was why Tyler Greengrass was currently in a Muggle car, driven by a Muggle-born – the only slave he owned – towards the Muggle ministry. He could not deny that cars were comfortable, at least when traveling in a Rolls-Royce, but it was terribly slow compared to Apparition.

He was absent-mindedly drinking champagne to pass the time when the car braked suddenly, and stopped with a thump. The bottle and the glass of champagne flew into the air, crashing on the glass separating him from his driver in a loud noise. Few seconds afterwards he heard his driver open the door and rush outside.

Frowning, Tyler Greengrass decided to get out and see what had happened. He got out of the car gracefully - fortunately his suit had not been stained by the champagne - and saw his driver already at the front of the car, helping a young Muggle to get up. He cursed his driver in his head. He had no time to loose with insignificant Muggles. He was about to tell him to solve this whole situation as soon as possible, when he realized that his driver had just bent over to pick up a second person.

One of the skills that had earned him the esteem of the Dark Lord despite his late adherence to the Death Eaters was the ability to perceive, albeit slightly, magical auras, proof among other things of his own great magical abilities. The one of the Dark Lord was of course the most powerful he had ever felt. Other wizards had more or less impressive auras, which usually allowed Tyler to carefully choose his friends. Magical creatures, and even Muggles also had auras, weaker, but noticeable. And this second girl, whom his driver had just helped to get up, had no aura. No aura at all. As if she was simply not alive.

Instead of returning to the car as he had previously intended, Tyler Greengrass finally took a few steps to join his driver and have a closer look at the girl. Bushy haired, rather small, somewhere between 18 and 20 years old. And no magical aura. As soon as she was on her feet, the girl turned to the younger one.

"Anne, are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm okay Hermione, I'm okay," the younger girl replied, visibly shocked.

"Please excuse me ladies, I noticed you too late," Tyler's driver apologized. "Are you hurt? I can call an ambulance."

"No, thank you, we are fine," the one named Hermione answered.

"I'm really sorry sir," the smallest one added. "I didn't pay attention."

"We'll drive you home," Tyler suddenly said.

They abruptly turned, seeming to just notice him. His driver looked the most surprised of the three, as any kind of relationship with Muggles was severely repressed by the current government. He was obviously frightened and his gaze traveled nervously between him and the two girls. Was he thinking that he would kill the two Muggles? He had many more important things to do than to go around and kill random Muggles on a whim.

"Thank you very much sir, but it won't be necessary," Hermione immediately answered. "My cousin is spending the weekend at my parents' home. We don't live very far away, and we were in fact walking back home before this unfortunate incident."

"I insist," Tyler Greengrass demanded coldly.

He was not used to refusals. Few people were more important than him in the wizarding world. And it would have never occurred to him to ask anything of the Dark Lord. The girl looked strangely at him, startled by his abruptness. She took the hand of her cousin and moved back slightly. Understanding that he was going to have to be kind to these Muggles to know where they lived, Tyler swore in his head. This day was definitely a bad one.

"Don't worry miss, I just want to make sure you get home safely," Tyler Greengrass explained. "If you have any post traumatic reaction in the streets it could be very dangerous for both of you."

She looked at him suspiciously and he forced himself to give her his kindest smile.

"Well then thank you very much sir," she finally said after a short silence.

Tyler Greengrass opened the car door for the two girls and they moved forward timidly. Neither Anne nor Hermione had ever been in such luxurious car. The journey was done in the utmost silence, Tyler trying in vain to probe Hermione's aura. The girl was visibly more than embarrassed by his sustained attention but did not say anything, probably out of politeness. When they stopped at the address Hermione had provided, the two girls came out quickly, and Hermione briefly thanked Tyler.

It was a short detour, and Tyler finally got to his appointment without too much delay. He spoke with his Muggle counterpart, shared a drink with him, and was droved back from the Muggle ministry to the Leaky Cauldron, from which he Apparated home. He dined quietly with his wife and his two daughters, rapidly discussed the last news with Helen, and then went to bed. During all the evening, until he finally felt asleep, he wondered how it was possible to have no magical aura at all.

oOoOoOo

When Tyler Greengrass woke up the next morning his first thought was for magical auras. He sighed loudly. He did not even know why it bothered him so much. Perhaps because he was so used to rely on others' aura that the idea that it could be hidden disturbed him even in his sleep? He got up and got dressed, before Apparating to the Ministry of Magic. He reached his office quite quickly - everyone rushing to get out of his way - and politely greeted his secretary, a non-powerful but conscientious half-blood.

"Miss Clearwater, could you please bring me all the books about magical auras from the ministry library?"

"Of course Minister, I'll take care of it right away."

Tyler Greengrass nodded and entered his office. Less than an hour later, his secretary brought him fifteen books. However, he was not able to go through them until the beginning of the afternoon, having been really busy before. And what he read did not satisfy him. "Every living being has its own aura...". No, visibly not. He had met the exception that proved the rule. And he was well-placed to know that in the current magical world, pure-bloods' as well as half-bloods' auras were carefully registered. And evaluated for half-bloods to find out if they could attend Hogwarts. Even those of the Muggle-born slaves were recorded.

He was pretty satisfied to have insisted to drive back the two young girls. He would need to see this Hermione again to clear up the mystery of her lack of magical aura. He would simply need to find an excuse to get her into his car, and then he would have a few hours in front of him to understand the phenomenon a little better. A little memory charm will afterwards ensure that she will not remember anything.

Tyler had just opened another advanced book on auras when he felt his dark mark burn. The Dark Lord was summoning him. Postponing his search until later, he Apparated to the Slytherin Castle.

oOoOoOo

Since her little cousin Anne had thrown herself under a car and she had barely managed to react in time, Hermione felt terribly guilty not to have watched her better. Their parents had been horrified by the story, calming down only after checking four times that none of the girls was hurt.

Fortunately, the bruises Hermione now had on her shoulder had only appeared a few hours later, otherwise she was sure they would have spent the evening in a hospital. Not that she hated hospitals, or that she minimized the risks, but the car was not driving very fast, and they were clearly more frightened than hurt. To be honest, she was more annoyed by the car trip than by the accident. She had felt the man staring at her the whole journey, without picking up a word. Only politeness had prevented her from making a blunt remark. She had felt particularly uneasy.

Three days after the accident she was coming back home from the grocery store, thinking about her readings for Oxford, when she noticed a Rolls-Royce parked just outside her house. It looked exactly like the car that had hit her, and such luxurious cars were not very often parked in her street. But she dismissed it as a coincidence.

She still hesitated slightly, before resuming her pace, heading for her home. As nothing had happened when she reached the door, she though for herself that her intuition had been good and that it was indeed a coincidence. However, when the next day she again noticed the car in her street, parked in another place, she began to no longer think of it as a coincidence. Was she watched? But that did not make any sense, why would she, Hermione Granger, a quite ordinary girl, be followed and watched? A mere incident without consequences could not justify it.

She had a positive answer to her first question the same evening. As she turned around the corner coming back home from another wandering around bookshops she saw that the strange businessman was leaning against the Rolls-Royce, looking straight at her. She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and walked to him with firm steps.

"You wanted to talk to me sir?" she asked bluntly. "I saw your car in the area yesterday and this morning."

The man raised an eyebrow at her direct approach.

"Well miss…" he began, letting the end of his sentence hang in the air.

"Granger. Hermione Granger."

"Miss Granger, I just wanted to invite you for dinner tonight. I was very impressed by your bravery a few days ago, and such good deeds should always be rewarded."

Hermione sent him a puzzled look. It was certainly said in a friendly tone, but it was still very strange. The man was clearly from her parents' generation, and she did not really have the habit of having dinner with complete strangers.

"Well, sir..." she said, using the same technique he used just before.

"Greengrass," supplied the man, still smiling amicably. "Tyler Greengrass."

"Mr. Greengrass, I'm very grateful for your invitation, but my parents are waiting for me this evening, so it won't be possible."

"What would be a more convenient time for you then?"

Hermione fidgeted a little and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She could not help feeling uncomfortable near the man. And why was he insisting? That was very inappropriate.

"I'm sorry, but I'm very busy in the coming days," she answered. "I'm moving out of London soon."

The man seemed exasperated, and she barely had time to see him make a movement of his hand and utter a word in Latin. Then she felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in her head was wiped gently away. For a moment she wanted to accept his proposal, but she shook her head and the sensation of well-being disappeared as quickly as it had come. She felt even more uncomfortable and a thrill of apprehension ran down her back.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she said before leaving hurriedly.

Only years of pure-blooded education prevented Tyler Greengrass from visibly display his amazement. He did not use the Imperius curse often, but he was quite sure to perfectly master the spell. And even if he had cast it at low strength, it should have been more than enough for a mere Muggle. But his spell had worked just for a brief moment before the girl got rid of it in a shrug and turned on her heels.

Just before she entered her house, he recovered and threw an Impediment jinx to her legs with the maximum power he was able to manage. The girl stumbled and fell to the ground under his watchful eyes. She got up quickly, looked at him with a mix of embarrassment and suspicion, and hurried home.

Tyler leaned pensively against the car. By increasing the power of his spell he had managed to have a reaction. There was indubitably some kind of protection around her that absorbed the spells, in addition to hiding her aura. A protection impressive enough to partially block an unforgivable. He should have thrown it much more strongly.

Keeping his wand in his hand and his eyes on the door, he took a few moments to wonder what he should do with Hermione Granger. She was not naive enough to let herself be approached diplomatically, and he could not possibly leave her in the Muggle world. However, she shall not disappear tonight. Too many people had seen them talking and he did not want to disturb Obliviators for such an unimportant matter. He will have his driver watch her for now, and he would arrange to discreetly recover her later.

oOoOoOo

When she was safely home, Hermione quickly greeted her family before going directly into the living room and turning on the family computer, her heart pounding into her chest. After few minutes and few unsuccessful spellings she finally found information about this Tyler Greengrass. She nearly swore when she saw the results. He was a high-ranked government official, having worked in a great number of British embassies, and had now a position as an episodic adviser to the Prime Minister. He was married, with two girls enrolled in a highly selective public school.

She soon faced a small issue in her research. Tyler Greengrass had made few public appearances, and had only a very slight background story. There was no more information that what she had already found. And what normal politician had only one photo of him on the internet? What normal politician was not quoted in any newspapers articles?

Hermione wondered if Tyler Greengrass was in fact a fake profile, but he was still quoted on the UK government website, which was rather incongruous. She also cursed herself for not paying more attention to the Rolls-Royce's license plate, which might have helped her to find information.

When her mother called her for dinner, she sighed, turned off the computer, and hoped she would not meet the man again.

oOoOoOo

Tyler Greengrass could not stop himself from thinking about Hermione Granger the following days. He had her followed to make sure he would not lose her track. He was going to have to abduct her to really understand what was happening, but for that he needed a smokescreen that did not involve him. And above all, he had to gather some information beforehand.

That's why on Tuesday morning Tyler finally went in the depths of the Ministry of Magic, where were stored all magical records, accessible only by few selected people. He passed various magical wards, and finally arrived in the round room of archives. He then raised his wand, and pronounced Hermione Granger's name. None of the documents in the room reacted, which made Tyler wince. He then retrieved the birth records for 3 years around what should be her birth year, and tried to see if there were any witches named Hermione or Granger. There was none. Not even anything approaching.

Upset, Tyler finally tidied the documents with a wand motion and hurried out of the room. He had lost half an hour for nothing. As he passed the protective enchantments again, he felt his left forearm burn him fiercely and thought that he might have lost more than just time. The Dark Lord was not a patient man, and Tyler did not know how long his Lord had been calling him.

Guided by his mark, he immediately Apparated to Lord Voldemort's study at Slytherin Castle. He knelt quickly, hoping the Dark Lord had just called him.

"What can I do for you my Lord? he asked.

"It took you a long time to answer my call Tyler, please care to explain why," the Dark Lord asked with an icy voice.

He was definitely out of luck today.

"Please pardon me my Lord, I was in the archives room at the Ministry," Tyler replied. "I only felt your call after exiting."

Lord Voldemort looked at his servant with boredom, playing loosely with his white wand. Tyler Greengrass might be a not too stupid follower, but the Dark Lord hated waiting, and he had been calling him for ten minutes before he showed up, his anger rising every second.

"What were you doing in the archives room?" he asked curtly.

The past years on the top of the magical world had not lessened his propensity to punish his followers, but he sometimes granted them the opportunity to explain themselves beforehand.

"I was looking for information about a Muggle girl," Tyler began.

"About a Muggle girl?" Voldemort interrupted him, his wand now aimed at the man in front of him.

He, Lord Voldemort, the sole ruler of the magical alliance, had lost ten minutes because of a Muggle girl?

"My Lord, it's a Muggle without any magical aura. I mean absolutely no aura, as if she wasn't alive. She also seems to be surrounded by a protection as less powerful spells are absorbed without her even noticing. I was researching her file hoping to find an explanation."

Voldemort thoughtfully looked at his Death Eater. He had never heard of a phenomenon that would hide an aura to the point of making it completely undetectable. Change it to scramble the tracks or slightly decrease the power, yes, but to make it undetectable? He would not have thought that possible. And above all, what was the point of hiding a Muggle's aura?

Setting aside these questions, Voldemort went back to the reason he summoned Tyler and discussed with him the latest political news. It was only at the end of the meeting that he thought of the Muggle girl again, interested by the possibility of completely masking an aura. He was almost certain that none of today's magi were able to mask an aura. If he could understand how the phenomenon worked, it would give him an advantage over the few opponents he still had outside the magical alliance.

"The girl," he said to Tyler, "Bring her here tomorrow at 9 pm. I want to see this… phenomenon."

"Yes my Lord."

Tyler Greengrass got up and went out of the Dark Lord's office. He would finally need to abduct Hermione Granger tomorrow. He shall plan for a squad of Obliviators just in case. And he would need to find some Death Eaters he can trust enough to do the job.

oOoOoOo

AN: Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you liked it.