Chapter five:

"Yes we will take the mark. We will choose to serve you father." I said not missing a beat.

"Are you sure sweetheart? Once you make this decision there is no going back. Although you are my daughter and that means you will be our Princess. Draco, your father is my right hand man, but I cannot give you too much freedom, though you will be in the inner circle immediately; Pansy, Blaise what about you?"

"I think I will take it too Sir." Pansy said with a nervous voice. From her mother's quiet gasp I could see Pansy's hesitation; her mother had hoped she would stay out of the oncoming war. My father nodded and looked to Blaise. Blaise looked at the three of us then back at his parents then finally to my father.

"Yes, it would be an honor to bring justice to this world by your side my Lord."

"Well with that settled; at the Death Eater ball you four will be initiated shortly after Hermione's introduction. You will all be placed in my inner circle but that doesn't mean you have a permanent spot. You still must prove your worth, but I have a mission for you that, if you succeed, will guarantee it."

"You can't seriously let them in my Lord! They are much too young! They are only in their fifth year. They haven't even taken their OWLs yet!" Pansy's mother said.

"As I said before Rose, I left the decision up to them. I wouldn't have offered it if I didn't think they couldn't handle it. They may be young but they have all of us to protect them, and I won't make them do something I didn't think they could handle. I have big plans for them; they will be the future of our new world." I thought my father would have gotten angry and tortured Pansy's mother for her outburst but he didn't. He was sympathetic and reassuring, he as a father understood the worry of putting his child through something as serious and dangerous as this; but he believed we were ready. Back at Grimmauld Place, the Order wouldn't let Harry, Ron and I into the meetings or even join in the Order. The only way we got information was because Sirius felt bad for leaving Harry out of the loop and of course Harry told us. Now I actually got to be involved; I was excited.

"Tom is right Rose; he would never put our children in danger. You have to trust him in this." Her husband reassured her and put an arm around her shoulders. She nodded and smiled at everyone realizing my father wouldn't lead us astray.

"Onto our next order of business; school, we need a back story and a plan for you dear." My father looked at me.

"Well I can't go by Riddle, for obvious reasons, or Hermione; Dumbledore isn't that stupid to lose a Hermione and then gain a new student with the same name. How about Mia? It wouldn't be such a difference that you all would accidently call me Hermione, Mia could be my nickname. But you couldn't call me Hermione on front of people, obviously."

"That's good, but what last name? I would say take your mother's surname but Dumbledore knows you're her daughter."

"She could be my cousin! From another school; and her parents just got terminally ill so she's under our care until they get better or die." Pansy said with a smile.

"That could work, but why both parents? It would look strange that they got sick and she didn't if she were with them." My father said.

"Well she was staying with me for Christmas and her parents traveled to a foreign country that just broke out in some deadly disease."

"That could work, and they would die causing her to stay with you until her seventh year. Their immune systems just couldn't take the illness and it finally overcame them. But what about friends at school who have never heard you talk about a cousin?"

"Well I am distant with my family; when the first war broke out and we joined you my parents and siblings chose to stay neutral, which caused a rift between us. But coincidentally my sister and her husband were hurt severely by someone in the Order who claimed that because I was married to a Death Eater that they were part of them too; they are both in a mental institute for witches and wizards and we could easily go and end their miserable lives. The Order wouldn't remember back to who they tortured and maimed in the war, especially because I have seven sisters." Rose said.

"That could work perfectly; would you be willing to end them yourself? If you can't kill them I understand and I can have someone else do the job."

"I think it would be best to have someone else kill them, she is still my sister."

"Now we have a believable story, except what school will you be transferring from? Beauxbatons might not be the best if you don't have a French accent."

"We could say I'm from a small private school in London. I don't think Dumbledore would investigate if we create the transfer papers perfectly, and if we do every other document right then he would need to investigate." I said.

"That could be relying too much on chance; he could easily look for the school at a moment's notice." My father said with worry.

"Well if I am so distraught over my parents' condition he couldn't help but be ever so caring for a student in need." I said faking a heartbroken expression.

"That could work, but just in case I think we will fake many documents and students that 'attend' the school. Then he wouldn't have the need to go looking for the school. And you could mention that the school is under a Fidelis Charm, concealing it. And of course you can't gain entrance again or even tell him where it is, you're not the Secret Keeper. And you don't know who that is of course. I think we have a solid story here. I'll go over the finer details with the adults but for now, you four go upstairs and socialize before dinner." My father excused us and we all left.

We walked quietly back up to Draco's lounge room. None of us said a word even as we sat down and Draco got Firewhiskey and glasses out. He handed a full glass to the three of us which we took but didn't drink. We sat there for about five minutes looking away from each other until I felt the cushion next to me sink. It was Draco; he took the glass of Firewhiskey out of my shaking palm and set it on the coffee table then grasped my hands in his.

"Hermione everything is going to be okay. I promise nothing will happen to you."

"I'm just nervous about taking the mark. What if it hurts really badly? What if the Death Eaters get upset that I have such a high rank for doing nothing? Or what about you three; what if they hate you because you haven't done anything either? What if they attack us? What if-"

"You have nothing to worry about Hermione, I already told you; they will accept you because you are Tom's daughter but they will love you because you are Hermione. They wouldn't dare cross your father; so you won't get attacked, nor will we. I'm sure he will tell the Death Eaters that he has a mission for us four that will prove our worth and they won't have a reason to hate us or doubt your fathers' judgment."

"Draco is right, we may not be Death Eaters yet but we still have gone to some of the functions over the summer of your fathers return. The Death Eaters aren't harsh people; they are like our parents, Purebloods who have the same belief as your father, to rid our magic world of Mudbloods." Blaise said setting his own glass down and coming up to hug me on my other side.

"The only thing to truly worry about at the moment is when you take the mark is to not trip and make a fool of you. Don't worry Hermione; I'll make sure you don't trip." Pansy smiled coming up and making Blaise scoot over for her to sit next to me. I smiled at them and hugged them.

"You guys really are the best; I'm so glad you accepted me." And I truly was grateful; they were far more welcoming than the Order ever was. They just laughed and hugged me back.

"I think we should start calling you Mia, you know to get used to it." Pansy said.

"I suppose so, it's weird actually. I thought it would be an easy adjustment but that sounded to strange hearing you say it." I laughed.

"Well too bad Mia! Let's go get your room started for the redecoration Mia. Come Mia." Pansy sang.

"Hey don't wear it out before I can even enjoy it!" I laughed and followed her towards my rooms, leaving a chuckling Draco and Blaise behind. Just as we closed the door Narscissa was just walking up to us with a tall thin man behind her.

"Perfect timing girls; this is Antonio, he will design your wall coverings. Just give him a description and he will cast it onto the wall." She smiled at us.

"Right this way sir." I said as I lead him to my rooms. "Let's start with the study then work our way to the lounge and my bedroom." I suggested.

"Yes miss. How would you like it to be?" the next two hours were spent with Pansy and I telling Antonio to change the colors from one thing to the next until he got it just right. In the end the walls were white with an elegant black design curving and twisting all over, there was an accent of red on some edges of the design. The curtains were red with black roses on them and the throw rugs were black with white designs on them, like the walls. The couches and chairs in all the rooms were made with black stained wood, white cushions and dark red pillows. The bed was black and red with white fluffy pillows. I had left the vanity in the bathroom the same white and extravagant, but the walls were like the rest of the rooms. I was very satisfied with the work Antonio had done.

"Thank you Antonio, it's perfect! I'll make sure to call you whenever I need to decorate my room!"

"The pleasure is mine miss...I'm sorry I didn't catch your name earlier." I was about to say Hermione, but I hesitated. If I was going to be Mia then I might as well start now.

"Mia. I'm Mia."

"Well have a good day miss Mia." He said and left out of the room and down the hall. Pansy gave me a knowing look and hugged me.

"It's going to be alright Her-Mia; our plan is going to work. It's just us who need to adjust to calling you Mia."

"I know Pans, I know. How about we go back and see if the boys are ready to go down to dinner?" she nodded and we walked over to Draco's room.

The boys had just been closing the door to come get us so we all went down the stairs and to the dining room. Pansy's and Blaise's parents had gone home so there wasn't as many people at the table.

"Hello dears, you're timing is perfect. Hermione, how are your rooms coming along?" Narscissa said as the four of us took a seat.

"They are done actually. They look great! You must come and see them after dinner. Oh and I think you should all call me Mia, even when you introduce me to the Death Eaters. So I can get used to it and no one can give me away."

"That is a good idea sweetheart. At the Death Eater ball you will be Mia Elizabeth Riddle; but for the Christmas ball there will be people from the Ministry so you will still be Mia but you will be Pansy's cousin." My father said.

"Alright, but will the Death Eaters know of this when they go to the Christmas ball?"

"I will make that announcement at the first ball so we won't have to worry about them messing anything up. Though they won't know your past identity or your real name; only Mia." I nodded and smiled at him as dinner was brought out and we all began eating and chatting quietly.

Shortly after dinner was done we all went back up to Draco's rooms, we seemed to spend a lot of time in his rooms. We all sat on the sofas in silence until Blaise spoke up.

"Alright I'm bored! We need to do something."

"And what do you suggest Blaise?" Pansy asked and rolled her eyes.

"I don't know; think of something guys."

"Well I would invite Nott, Flint and the Greengrass sisters over but I don't think it would be a good idea considering Mia is here and they don't know anything about her." Draco said.

"How about we play 'never have I ever'?" I suggested.

"What's that?" Blaise asked.

"Well it's a muggle game, but its fun. You're supposed to use your fingers but I like to use alcohol; it makes it far more interesting. We sit in a circle and the first person says 'never have I ever' and they say something they haven't done, and everyone else in the circle will have to drink if they have done it. If you haven't then you don't drink either. I always tried to play with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and twins but they never wanted to play."

"That sounds very fun! Alright Draco grab the vodka! Let's all go sit on the floor by the fireplace." Blaise smiled and practically ran over to get a spot on the floor. I laughed at his enthusiasm and grabbed Pansy's hand and sat down with Blaise while Draco went into his liquor cabinet and joined us quickly.

"Alright I'll go first!" I said. "Never have I ever, played Quidditch." I giggled as Draco and Blaise took a shot, glaring at me as they swallowed the alcohol.

"I'm Next!" Pansy said on my left. "Never have I ever, been in the Forbidden Forest!" Draco and I took a shot.

"I guess I'm next." Draco smirked at me. "Never have I ever, kissed a boy." I was surprised when I was the only one to take a shot.

"Pansy you've never kissed a boy?"

"Nope, I've never have a guy with enough balls to kiss me." She smiled at me. "Who did you kiss? Stupid Potter and Weasley or anyone else in the Order doesn't count."

"Viktor Krum last year after the Yule Ball, it was awful! He was a terrible kisser; he slobbered all over my face more than anything." I laughed.

"Alright now it's my turn!" Blaise yelled. "Never have I ever, worn makeup." Pansy and I both took a shot.

For the next half hour we carried on playing and taking shots until Blaise claimed he was tired and left to his room; but I think he really was puking his guts out. Pansy left shortly after and I'm sure she passed out as soon as her head hit her pillow. That left Draco and I sitting on the floor in front of the fire each taking swigs off of another bottle of vodka, our shot glasses abandoned next to us.

"So Drakey-poo, are you smashed yet?" I giggled at the clever nickname I came up with.

"Don't call me that! And no I'm not!" he shouted and gave me a playful glare. I laughed even harder and lay down on the ground. I took of my black tights that I had been wearing all day and threw them at Draco's face. His reflexes were slow in his drunken stupor so they hit them squarely in the face. I laughed again. "Hey! What was that for?"

"I thought you would move or catch it!" I laughed even harder, and without me noticing Draco pinned me to the floor by hovering over me. I had stopped laughing and looked into his eyes above me, he had an evil glint in his eye and began tickling my sides causing me to squeal and squirm under him. "Stop, Draco! Please! Stop!" I said in between peals of laughter.

"Never!" he roared and tickled me even more than he already was. After a few more seconds he stopped and let me breathe. I looked into his eyes again and saw his amusement in them. He smiled at me and I returned the smile. He was very close to me, just barely hovering above my face. I could feel his warm breath hitting my face; it was intoxicating, it didn't smell like the alcohol we had been drinking but like peppermint and cherries. I felt myself moving closer to his face, slowly but I still was moving closer. He was moving closer to me as well; our eyes never breaking contact. He was so close I could almost feel his lips on mine, just a little bit further. Suddenly we both jumped up and apart from each other, our breathing fast and our eyes frantically searching around the room for what had caused us to jump. The fire had popped very loudly and one of the logs had shifted slightly. I looked back over at him; I had almost kissed Draco Malfoy.

"I think I should be getting to bed. The Death Eater ball is tomorrow, I will need my rest and its already past midnight." I stood and grabbed my shoes and almost ran to my room, leaving my tights behind and a hurt looking Draco. The hurt on his face wasn't bad but I'm sure he wasn't happy about my sudden departure, but I couldn't stay any longer. I had almost kissed him; we were friends and I didn't want to ruin that. I just hoped in the morning he wouldn't remember, he was fairly drunk, if he did then things would probably be a bit awkward tomorrow. I quickly changed into some pajamas and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day I woke up with a pounding headache and a dry mouth. The curtains were wide open and blinding me, making my headache worse. With my eyes closed I felt around on my nightstand for my wand then I heard a low chuckle. My eyes shot open frantically looking for the source. It was Draco; he was standing just out of my reach with my wand and a potion bottle in hand.

"Looking for this?" he teased me, waving it around in his hand.

"Yes now if you would please give it back so I can close the bloody curtains." I said with irritation lacing my voice.

"Well sunshine its ten thirty and you've missed breakfast and the Death Eater ball is tonight. You need to get up to start getting ready. Pansy is going to come in here screaming soon, making that hangover worse. Lucky for you I've brought you a hangover potion to fix that." He smiled and sat down on the bed then handed me the potion to drink. I smiled gratefully and drank the potion in one swallow. Immediately I started to feel better; my headache went away and the light wasn't so harsh and I felt wide awake.

"Thank you Draco, I feel a lot better. I'm just hungry and thirsty."

"Well I'll send for a house elf to bring you food if you promise you'll get up and help me decorate the ballroom before Pansy finds out you're up and steals you for hours of girl time."

"Deal!" I smiled and jumped out of bed rushing towards the bathroom to take a quick shower.

When I was out of the shower I dressed quickly into some black leggings and a grey sweater with some black flats, I tied my hair up into a loose bun and by the time I went back into my room Draco was sitting on my sofa with a tray of food on the coffee table, he smiled at me when I sat down.

"So why don't you have decorators to decorate?" I asked taking a bite of the pancakes on the plate.

"Well it's a Death Eater ball, and well we aren't supposed to exist, so all of our parents will be decorating the ballroom. So will Blaise but Pansy won't be helping; she has made it very clear that she needs every bit of time that she can to get ready."

"Okay, what are we going to be doing?"

"Mostly just putting spells on our valuables and putting things here and there. Apparently during your father's first rise to power, the death eaters liked to take things from the parties. My parents aren't going to let that happen. Also we need to set enough tables and chairs for people and a head table for your parents and you to sit and a dance floor."

"That doesn't sound like too much work. Pansy could have helped, but oh well. Let's go down now then." I smiled as I took the last bite. Draco called for an elf to come get the dishes then held his hand out for me to take, and I did. We went downstairs to the ballroom to find all the adults and Blaise already working on things.

"Oh good, Draco dear help Blaise and the men with the tables and chairs; and Mia help us with charming our belongings to their places." Narscissa said so we went different ways and spent the next two hours setting up.

"I take back what I said about it seeming easy, you have a lot of valuables that needed to be charmed down." I said jokingly to Draco as we trudged up the stairs to get ready for the ball.

"What are you talking about? It can't have been that bad. It only took two hours to get through about a fourth of them. Our mothers started charming them last night you got the easy end of the work." He smiled at me.

"Well if there is so much why don't you leave them charmed all the time?"

"Two reasons," he held up two fingers as we stopped in front of my door, "mother likes to redecorate all the time and she doesn't like the hassle of uncharming them every three months; and we haven't had a Death Eater ball for quite some time, and most of them are known for their thievery."

"Well those are good reasons then; I'll make sure to keep my things on lock down when they are around." I leaned against the door and gave Draco a sly smile.

"I think you ought to get all your things and head to Pansy's room before she hunts you down demanding your arse on a silver platter, you've got until 6 o'clock to be ready and it's already almost two. You better hurry." He smiled and winked at me before turning towards his room to get ready.

When I walked in my room I saw an angry looking Pansy sitting on my sofa; I cautiously went to sit down next to her with a pleading look on my face.

"Now Pansy, I know you're upset but the ballroom needed to be done and so I helped."

"Yes but did you have to take so long? Now I've only got four hours to get us both ready for this ball! This is our shining moment; we will be the youngest Death Eaters ever! Not to mention the youngest Death Eaters in the inner circle, we can't be seen as a joke Mia! This is serious business!"

"I know Pans and I'm sorry but this is a lot for me to take on too you know? I'm also the Dark Lords daughter so I must be the perfect image of what the Darkest Wizards daughter is supposed to be. And what if I'm not good enough? What if I'm not cunning enough like my father is? What if being around the Order all these years has ruined my chance at being the Dark Princess my father wants me to be? What if I disappoint him and my mother?"

"Mia, I can help you look the part of a Dark Princess; I can make you look cunning and sly. But if you don't believe it yourself, it will show. You have to see how much you have changed from the girl you once were in the Order. I see it Mia, Draco and Blaise see it too. Your father sees it, if he didn't he wouldn't have offered the Dark Mark to you so soon. He knows you're ready for this. You will not disappoint him, even if you walked into the ballroom tonight and yelled at the top of your lungs that you wanted to join the Order; he wouldn't be disappointed because you would be doing what you wanted. And that's what he wants from you, to be the girl you want to be. So when you go out there tonight, be yourself and that is what will make your parents proud. Who cares what the Death Eaters think you should be like; show them what the Dark Lords daughter is like. They can't already have expectations for you to live up to when there haven't been any other Dark Lord daughters to set the standards. Now let's go get you ready for this ball, you're going to shove their ideas of you right up their arses when I'm done with you." She smiled, grabbed my hands and led me to my bathroom to start my hair and makeup.

"Thank you Pansy, you really know how to calm my nerves when I get all worked up." I smiled and gave her a small laugh.

"That's what friends are for; apparently you were lacking them back in the Order if you think otherwise." She smiled to me in the mirror. The next four hours were spent in a comfortable silence; it was only broken to get one of the elves to bring up a snack to eat.

"Can I see now Pans?" I whined, she had been doing my makeup, hair and nails for hours using different products and spells to make me 'perfect' but she wouldn't let me see what she had been doing.

"Not until you get your dress on! Now go change into it and don't even try to get a sneak peak because I'll know, I charmed the mirrors in your closet." She smirked at me and I rolled my eyes at her before going into my large closet to change. The long black dress hugged my figure perfectly; I smiled to myself as I slipped on my heels feeling confident about tonight.

"Alright Pansy here I come, you better let me see now." I smiled as I walked back into the bathroom. "Hey, it took you three and a half hours to get me all ready and now here you are finishing up within the five minutes I was gone! Why didn't you speed up the process on me?"

"Well I already knew what I wanted to do on myself so I just used my wand to charm it on, I've also got much more experience with these kinds of things. Also I love doing other girl's makeup so I took advantage of the opportunity." She smiled wickedly at me.

"Why didn't you come and help decorate earlier then if you knew you could be ready this fast?"

"I took a long relaxing bath, left to get a manicure and a pedicure, and then I did some last minute Christmas shopping without any of you lot realizing I was gone." She winked at me. I just smiled and shook my head at her.

"Can I see now then?"

"Yes you can see now; don't pass out though because you are drop dead gorgeous!" she grinned widely then pointed her wand at the mirror and muttered the counter charm. When I saw myself I gasped; Pansy was right, I was gorgeous. My long red hair had large curls that framed my pale face perfectly, and my make up was simple but bold with black eyeliner and red lipstick. The necklace my mother had given me was a diamond along with earrings and a silver bracelet. I looked like a young woman rather than a fifteen year old student at Hogwarts. I was going to make an impression on the Death Eaters tonight.

"Wow Pansy, you really made me stunning! Hopefully my looks will distract the Death Eaters away from how nervous I am about tripping or something." I joked.

"You'll be fine Mia, Draco is your escort and I know he won't let you trip. I'll be back I need to change too."

"Wait Draco is my escort?"

"Yes, is there a problem about that?" she turned around with curiosity on her face.

"No there isn't it's just I didn't expect that. Things might be a little awkward after last night."

"What happened last night? Hold that thought I'll be right back and you will explain." She left quickly to go put her dress on. I forgot I hadn't told Pansy about the almost kiss with Draco; I didn't even know if he remembered because we were so tossed. After five minutes Pansy came back in the bathroom, locked the door, and cast a silencing charm so no one would hear us talking.

"We almost kissed," I whispered, "after you and Blaise left, one second he was tickling me and laughing the next second it got serious and he was almost kissing me. If the fire hadn't popped, causing us to jump apart, we would have kissed. I practically ran back to my room afterwards, he seemed hurt and I feel bad but I don't think he remembers because he was in my room this morning waking me up."

"Mia, after knowing Draco for most of my life I have learned one thing; no matter how much he drinks he never forgets what happens while he is drunk. But because you ran out last night he probably got a little upset so naturally he's going to pretend like he doesn't remember because 'Malfoys don't show emotions'. But how do you feel about him?"

"He's my friend and I pretty much just met the real him after all these years, it's too soon for something like that, I've only been here a week! Though I do feel something between us, I just think it needs to wait." I explained to her.

"I understand Mia, and the best advice I can give you is to maybe set a boundary with him for a while, at least until you get comfortable you know? Talk to him about it, he may pretend like he doesn't care or remember but he really does. So if you ignore it and pretend like nothing happened it will hurt him more; it could ruin your chances with him if you even want a chance. We ought to be going now we have five minutes to get down the stairs, and you're the Guest of Honor." She grabbed my hand and led me out of the bathroom through my room and out into the hallway at the same time Draco was closing the door to his room.

"Hello ladies, are you ready to go down? Blaise is already ready he just went to his room to grab his-"

"My blazer. Good evening girls." He cut Draco off and smiled politely at me before looking over to Pansy. It may have been my mind messing with me but it looked like Blaise looked Pansy up and down and gulped; she was wearing a long, long-sleeved black dress and the back was open all the way to the end of her back. Her makeup was similar to mine with perfect cat eye eyeliner and a deep red lipstick; the difference was her eye shadow which was a sparkly Smokey eye.

Before I had the chance to process Blaises reaction Draco caught my attention by holding his arm out for me to take before we went down the stairs, Blaise did the same for Pansy. I took it nervously and gave him a small smile before we began our march; all the nerves began rushing back to me all at once and I felt my heart pick up speed. Thank goodness for Pansy's charms or I'm sure I would have sweated my makeup off by now; every step brought us closer to the ballroom, to the Death Eaters and our initiation, and every step closer made me want to take five steps back. Before I could turn around and run back up and lock myself in my room we were at the doors and they were opening, I could hear my father's voice loud in my ears and my breathing hitched.

"I now introduce to you our newest recruits; Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy, and last but certainly not least, my very own daughter who was stolen from me long ago only to be reunited with me recently, Mia Riddle." All the heads in the room turned at the mention of me, they hadn't cared with the other three, they expected them to join eventually, but that hadn't known of my existence until seconds ago. I was the center of attention and all of a sudden this wave of calm washed over me and a sly, wicked smirk appeared on my face; it came so natural to me. Now all I had to do was get through the mark and I would be completely at ease. I was the Darkest Wizard in the world's daughter, if the Death Eaters didn't like me they would have to answer to my father. But from the looks of it, I would be their leader one day, and they would be just fine with it.

I am soooo terribly sorry for the long wait! School started and its like I have an essay everyday! I will try my hardest to make more time to sit down and write this story. I feel soo bad for the long absence, but I will not abandon this story. On a sidenote I have posted links on my profile of Hermione's and Pansy's dresses, shoes, makeup, hair,etc. I hope they work this time. I hope you liked this chapter, review please! And once again I am very sorry for the wait.