Chapter One

As a person who already wasn't interested in Quidditch, Hermione couldn't focus on this game for more than a few moments. She wasn't entirely sure how Draco and Blaise were doing it. Looking over at Pansy, Hermione saw that she was just as distracted; she kept glancing behind the group over to where the Weasley family and Potter were seated.

"It's just so crazy," she said to Hermione, when she noticed her stare, "they have no clue what this night is going to bring."

Hermione nodded, turning to look at the group as well. The Weasley family was in a mix of green and red, apparently split in which team they were rooting for. Potter was amongst them, though he had been seated for most of the game. Weasel had tried to coax him into conversation, apparently with very little success. Still mourning the lost of Black, she thought, grinning, you're in for a hell of a night, Potter, maybe if you're lucky you'll forget about your shitty life for a while in wake of a new disaster.

"I can't wait to see the look on his face," Hermione told Pansy. Pansy looked at her, surprised, before laughing.

"Doesn't the Dark Lord want us out of the way before he makes his appearance? I should have known you had a plan."

Hermione laughed as well, "If the Dark Lord thinks he's going to have all the fun, he doesn't know me as well as he thinks he does."

At this, Draco cast her a look, "You're a fool to think the Dark Lord is your friend, Hermione. You shouldn't go against orders."

"What's the worst he can do, torture me? Been there, done that." She replied, crossly.

Hermione saw Draco's face darken, before he turned to face her completely,

"He's tortured you?"

"Hermione, why didn't you tell us about this?" Pansy asked.

Hermione's prickly mood softened at their concern.

"It wasn't a big deal—he was just trying to prove a point." She explained.

"He obviously proved just the opposite, if you're willing to cross him again," Draco replied.

"What curse did he use?" Blaise asked, joining the conversation.

"The Cruciatus," she said reluctantly, trying to gauge the anger that showed on Draco's features, "Can we just change the subject?" She cut in, before anyone else could speak again of her brief torture session.

"Yes," Pansy said, "but only because I want to hear the plan."

Hermione looked over to Draco and Blaise, the latter of the two was trying to focus on the conversation, but kept shooting glances at what was happening in the game.

"Well, as you know, the Dark Lord cast the linking spell on me at the meeting last night. That will get him in range of us but it's not 100% accurate so he'll have to track me the rest of the way using Legilimency. He's supposed to let me know when he's close enough, so we leave and he shows up."

"That all seems very straightforward to me," Pansy commented, "are we going to leave and then just come back? The Dark Lord would be furious."

"Exactly, that's why we're never going to leave in the first place. He'll tell us to, and I'll confront him then and there saying no. He doesn't have time to argue, Potter could decide to leave at any minute, and he could lose his chance completely. He'll have no choice but to show himself with us still there."

"You're mad," Blaise said, looking serious, "You think he'll be any less angry when you put him in a corner like that—forcing him to make a move? You'll be signing yourself up for a rigorous torture session, and us along with you."

"Don't worry about that," she dismissed, "I'll tell Him that it was all me—you won't get in trouble, but we'll get to see the look on Potter's face when he realizes that the Dark Lord has returned."

"Hermione, it's all of us or nothing. We aren't going to let you take the fall," Draco told her, "Personally, seeing Potter's reaction is worth a little bit of suffering afterward."

"So we're agreed?" Hermione asked.

The four Slytherins simultaneously looked back at the group behind them, seeing that Weasel had finally coaxed Potter to his feet, and they were cheering together. It was the first time Hermione had seen Potter smile since they'd arrived, and she was ready to ensure it was his last one of the day.

"Agreed."

Draco threw an arm around Hermione's shoulder, "Now, can we try to have a good time until then?"

She laughed, and the group turned back toward the game, "Alright," she said, "What's the score?"

By the end of the game, even Hermione had to admit that she had been on the edge of her seat. School games really were nothing when comparing to professional players. She still couldn't believe that the Bulgarian seeker had caught the snitch, but the Irish team had won. That had definitely never happened at Hogwarts. However, as time went on and celebrations (on the Irish fans' part at least) continued, the game drew further and further from Hermione's thoughts. Lucius had left the friends to their own devices after the game's conclusion, having to join the rest of the Death Eaters before their fun began. They had passed the time by sitting around a fire, using spells on it to change the color and size of the flames. When Hermione heard the first signs of disruption down at the end of the campsite, she almost jumped to her feet, but Draco grabbed her arm to keep her calm. They were in plain sight of the Weasleys' tent, though the lot of them had gone inside a while before.

Hermione looked at Draco, and they shared a grin, waiting in anticipation as the noises grew louder. She could hear shouts, and screaming, but she never took her eyes off of the tent across the way. Finally, Arthur Weasley stuck his head outside, obviously assuming the sounds were just that of celebration—he realized very quickly that he was wrong. The Death Eaters had begun setting tents on fire, and pulling people out of other tents to torment. Hermione had made a mental list of the targets, checking them all off in her head when she saw them pulled outside. As the Dark Lord had ordered, they did not hold back on the curses—they ranged from embarrassing spells to painful ones, though Hermione also did not miss the occasional flash of green light coming from Death Eater wands.

The chaos began to spread as the Death Eaters got closer to them, and at that moment, everyone emerged from the Weasleys' tent. Arthur and three of the older red-heads ran toward the commotion, in order to help. That left everyone they wanted left—Potter, Weasel, the twins and Longbottom, who had joined the group after the game. She could see the look on Potter's face as he took in the mayhem before him. Although Longbottom and any Weasley child would know about the terror of the Dark Lord's reign, Potter had never seen anything like it firsthand. As he looked around, he caught her gaze; though she averted her eyes quickly, she knew it was very telling that while everyone else ran in terror, the friends still sat casually around the fire. Good, let him think what he wants. He'll know for sure in a few moments anyway. When Hermione looked over again, Potter was still staring at her. However, as an explosion echoed throughout the campsite, Weasel grabbed Potter's arm and they headed off away from the mayhem. Hermione jumped to her feet without pause, hurrying after them with only one glance to see that her friends were doing the same. They weaved through the crowd of terrified witches and wizards, pushing through when necessary, never losing sight of the group thanks to the three gingers among them.

The screaming and sounds of explosions seemed to follow them as they walked, meaning the Death Eaters were picking up the pace, as part of the plan. Hermione could only hope they were succeeding in finding all of their targets—blood traitors, Mudbloods. Any Mudbloods with decent jobs in the Ministry were at the receiving end of the Killing Curse.

At that moment, Hermione caught a glimpse of the Head of the Muggle Liaison office—a Mudblood, obviously, pushing through the crowds near Potter. She thought of something that would show Potter how this night was about to change; she also knew that the Mudblood couldn't get away—he was on the list of people to kill. Raising her wand, she said two words that she'd never said before that moment,

"Avada kedavra."

She watched as a bolt of green light hit the man, and he fell to the ground. Her friends looked at her in surprise but they didn't stop moving. Potter turned to glance at the body on the ground, shock in his eyes. A rush of power and adrenaline coursed through her. Merlin, she thought, that felt good. Luckily, Weasel grabbed Potter and they continued through the crowds, without seeing the group following behind them.

"Hermione," Draco hissed, "you just successfully cast an Unforgiveable on the first try."

She shot him a grin, "I did, didn't I?"

Finally, Potter and the rest reached the forest line. They followed inconspicuously behind them, ducking into the woods as well. Hermione's heart was pounding as they began to catch up to the group. The mental and physical effects of using Dark magic was always very strong especially at the beginning, or so the Dark Lord had told her. Maybe using such a powerful spell right before doing something this important wasn't such a good idea. Or maybe it was the best idea I've had all day, she added, I suppose it could go either way at this point. The Gryffindors stopped, gasping as they all caught their breath and they began to talk about what they had just witnessed. Hermione stopped, using a hand to tell her friends to pause as well. They hid behind a clustering of trees, waiting for the opportune moment to join the conversation.

"What was that?" Potter asked, looking around at his group, "Who were those people?"

"They've his—his followers," Longbottom said, trembling, "You-Know-Who's."

"Voldemort's followers? Why would they come here now?" Potter asked, though he was interrupted by a chorus of 'Don't say the name' before anyone replied.

"One can only guess what those psychopaths want," one of the twins said.

"Hopefully they're all caught and chucked into Azkaban." The other twin finished.

"I wouldn't put my money on that happening," Hermione called out, leaning against the tree as she made her appearance known.

"Granger," Potter growled, narrowing his eyes.

"Present and accounted for," she said, mockingly.

"Your daddy tell you all to hide, Weasel?" Draco asked, stepping forward as well.

"Great, Malfoy's here too," Weasley muttered under his breath.

"We're all here, Weasley, would you expect anything else?" Blaise said, as he and Pansy appeared as well.

"Yes, actually, I expected you to be out there with your parents, wearing the masks." Potter said, disdainfully.

"If our parents were out there, Potter, we wouldn't be likely to tell you, now would we?" Draco replied, smiling coldly.

She felt a pressure in her head, and she let Him in. I'm a minute away, Hermione—you can leave now.

Hermione took a deep breath but since her veins still coursed with the effects of the Dark magic, she felt a bit more daring than normal. No.

I don't have time for your games. You need to walk away. Now. She could feel his anger even through his thoughts, but she wasn't deterred by it.

I want to see his face when he hears you're back, my Lord, we all do. We want them to know that it's you we're loyal to. So, either you can come out here with us—or you're going to miss your chance.

Hermione could vaguely hear the conversation continuing around her, but she was so deep into her own head that it sounded muffled and very far away. However, she felt His presence and knew that he was nearby. The fact of which was proven correct moments later when his thoughts were heard even clearer in her head, like he was standing next to her.

If you think you have the right to issue me ultimatums, you'll learn the hard way how very wrong you are.

I know the risk—you're going to torture me, but it's worth it to be here for this.

I am going to torture you, and your friends. I thought they understood their place, even though it's clear that you don't, the Dark Lord thought, so harshly that she almost recoiled.

It's your move, my Lord, she thought, holding her breath with anticipation, you're running out of time.

You should understand, Hermione, that I'm the one who issues the ultimatums. You can either leave now, or I will come out and torture you in front of Potter and his little gang of Gryffindors. Do you think that will show your loyalty to me or prove the opposite?

You wouldn't, Hermione thought back, but knowing in her heart that he would not even hesitate.

Don't try me, Granger, he hissed, and she could feel him leave her mind.

Hermione was arrogant, she could admit that, and stubborn—the combination of those two traits meant that in her mind, nothing would be worse than being embarrassed like that and having Potter think she wasn't loyal to her Lord. But she knew that the Dark Lord would torture her, and enjoy it too, if she stayed a moment longer.

"Let's get out of here," she said, abruptly, apparently interrupting one of the Weasley twins mid-sentence. I'm getting my loyalty across, she told herself, whether He likes it or not, "I'm sure Potter has other people to talk to." She smirked, casting Potter a smug look before walking back the way they came.

Hermione heard her friends following behind her and once they got far enough away, the questions began. She ignored them all, pulling out her wand and pointing it at a nearby boulder,

"Bombarda," she muttered, angrily, watching as it shattered into pieces. Rage filled her, fueled by the remnants of Dark magic, and she turned to a tree, "Ascendio."

She pulled her wand abruptly up, which ripped the tree from its roots and sent it flying into the air. Her vision turned black as her anger escalated and moments later, she was looking around at a clearing where there wasn't one before. The trees were all knocked down around her, some on fire and others just split into hundreds of pieces. Did I do that, she thought, disoriented, turning in a complete circle to take note of the damage. Finally, she saw her friends standing just out of the range of destruction, wide-eyed. It took a lot to surprise a Slytherin and took even more for them to show emotion, but they looked scared—not of her, but for her. She took a calming breath, finally feeling the Dark Magic leave her, and headed over to the group.

"I'm sorry," she said, breathlessly, "The Dark Lord warned me of the effects of using Dark Magic."

"We all know about the effects, Hermione," Pansy said, calmly, "But you're going to need to learn to control it."

She nodded briefly.

"So what happened to the plan?" Blaise asked her, "What changed your mind?"

"I didn't have much of a choice," she replied, "The Dark Lord responded to my ultimatum with one of his own—leave or he would come out and torture us in front of Potter."

"Making it look like we aren't apart of anything," Pansy said, nodding her head with understanding, "You made the right decision, none of us would want that."

"I suppose we should head back then," Blaise said, glancing around, "Except Hermione decided to blow up everything in sight—including our Portkey, I'm assuming."

"I may have been in a blacked out rage induced by Dark Magic, but I'm not an idiot," Hermione said, primly, "Follow me."

They all walked out of the newly made clearing and further into the forest, until they came across a tattered old leather purse. As they grabbed it, Hermione realized that Draco hadn't said a single word during the entire conversation.

Author's Note: Thought I would get this chapter up fast. I'm quite proud of it honestly, so I hope you all enjoy it. For the sake of chapter one, please review! I was disappointed by the lack of reviews for the last chapter of Year 3, so make my day and review! Tell me what you liked, didn't like, suggestions, improvements, flames, anything! :)