Before Hermione knew it, it was almost time to go back to Hogwarts. She was rather nervous about it, not wanting to be away from Bellatrix and the feeling of safety that came from the people within the manor. Snape told her the night before that he struck a deal with Dumbledore to allow her to come back and that she will be moved into Slytherin, even though Dumbledore argued against it. Hermione was never more grateful to the dour potions master. She didn't think she could handle being surrounded by the dunderheads that plagued Gryffindor, specifically Harry and Ron, though she would miss Ginny quite a bit. The two girls had gotten rather close the past few years, what with Hermione never treating Ginny like she was a child and Ginny not being stuck up the Golden Boy's ass. Maybe…maybe she could sway Ginny over to her side. It shouldn't be that hard, what with her anger towards her family and Harry. She never agreed with how they seemed to worship Harry and was rather disgusted that they thought she still had feelings for him. A small school girl crush from before had morphed into distaste. Hermione could sway her, she just needed permission from her dear cousin. With her decision made, she quickly strode towards her cousin's study, snarling at Wormtail as she passed him.

"Come in Hermione and do play nice with the rodent. He has his uses occasionally."

With a chuckle, Hermione swept into the room, "Cousin, I wanted to talk with you about what I would be doing whilst back in Hogwarts. I was wondering if I could try and sway some of the students, particularly Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley. Ginny is nothing like Ronald. She is very proficient in her magic and was always very good at the darker magics that we learned. Luna is one of a kind. She sees things that others don't, and I do believe she might have a bit of seer blood in her. I believe that the two of them could be great assets to you and could possibly even allow for us to have spies that are closer to the dunderheads."

Voldemort was overjoyed at Hermione's initiative. He knew that his cousin would help him create a better world for everyone with magical blood. They would bring about a new era, a golden era. With a grin, he thanked Hermione and tasked her with bringing over anyone who she thought would be an asset to their cause, promising her that she would be able to take her revenge on those who had wronged her for so many years. He knew that she would be the tipping point in this war.

After the two discussed possible candidates, Hermione was dismissed. She was intent on spending what little time she had left with Bellatrix, just wanting to be in her presence for as long as possible. Hermione figured she would be in the library, so she headed towards there, a shy grin falling on her face when she took in the beautiful picture of Bellatrix reading a rather thick book on magical creatures, her long legs stretched out on the table, a carefree expression on her face. Walking towards her, Hermione pressed her side against the older witch, her hand lightly tracing the pale wrist next to her, humming softly as she felt Bellatrix's pulse jump for a short second. Feeling bold, the young witch tucked her head underneath Bellatrix's chin while she wrapped her arm around her waist. For the first time in years, Hermione felt completely relaxed, her mind quieting down, her entire body just melted into the older witch's side. The two stayed like that, no words exchanged until it was time for the two of them to go to bed. Bellatrix brushed her lips across Hermione's cheek before sauntering over to her room, a mischievous smirk firmly in place as she heard Hermione's breath catch before she hurried inside her room. Taking a deep breath, Hermione shook her head and got herself ready for bed, intent on ignoring the heat on her face and the warmth in her stomach.

Waking up, Hermione was filled with dread. She knew it was time she had to go back to Hogwarts. Groaning, she allowed her mind to wander. She knew that Gryffindor would more than likely instigate fights with her now that she had switched to Slytherin. They were a bunch of reckless idiots who were more prejudiced than the house filled with blood purists. She never understood how the house of Gryffindor felt so superior to the Slytherins when they judged the entire house for their sortings. Rolling her eyes, she pushed those thoughts to the side, wanting to try to make the most of the last few hours of happiness within the manor. Before she could get out of bed, her door pushed open, and in strolled Bellatrix with a tray of breakfast food. Hermione couldn't help the bright grin that erupted on her face. She would have never guessed that the eldest Black sister could be so sweet.

The two shared their breakfast, pressed together as close as they could while still managing to eat, not wanting to be separated for a moment. Hermione knew the next few months would be trying on her sanity, and Bellatrix knew that she would be constantly worrying about Hermione and her mental health. The feelings were such a welcome thing to Bellatrix after her years of darkness, she wasn't going to let her happiness be taken away, especially by some idiotic Order members who thought they could mess with such a bright witch. The dark witch smiled softly at her younger counterpart before leaning in and pressing her lips against her temple. The two sat there together until it was time for Hermione to leave.

Hermione arrived at the train station with Draco, Narcissa, and Lucius, ignoring the stares that she received. She knew it was risky showing up with the Malfoys, but she would also be releasing the information about her bloodline soon enough, especially once she started recruiting some of the students. Being related to the Dark Lord would give her the ins to recruiting more students and unbeknown to her, would make sure that every Slytherin student would cater to her, not wanting to risk getting punished. Most of the Slytherin students already knew of her bloodline, seeing as most of their parents told them so that they could make sure to treat her with the respect she deserved, especially after the raid that she participated in.

Draco knew that Hermione wouldn't be expecting such a wonderful treatment from her new house, but he figured the surprise might do her some good and show her that while some of the houses ideals were a bit backwards, they ca red for their own, something she hadn't had much experience with. Besides, once she realized that she didn't have to worry about being cursed or attacked in her sleep, the happier she would be with the given freedom to complete her mission at Hogwarts. Recruitment of all students who were of age, and retrieval of a certain item that their lord wanted.

The first day back was rather trying for Hermione. She didn't expect the warm welcome that Slytherin gave her, nor did she expect as much open hostility from her former house. Surprisingly, there were quite a number of people from all houses that didn't question her switching houses and still considered her the intelligent witch who had helped them all study and lend an ear when needed. Most of the hostility was fanned by Ron and Harry, both of who had according to one of Hermione's pupils, enraged at her switching and told anyone who would listen that she was corrupted by Death Eaters and was now Voldemort's right hand man. The thought was hilarious to Hermione. No one would believe them except the idiots that fawned over Harry, and it was surprisingly close to the truth. Though she wouldn't say she was his right hand man, that was a spot reserved for Bellatrix and Severus, neither who she would want to usurp from their titles.

Anytime a student got too aggressive with her, one of her Slytherin comrades would swoop in with threats and wands drawn, all intent on protecting the witch so she wouldn't get in trouble. Draco had told some of his own inner circle to make sure that she didn't have to fight so they wouldn't know how advanced she had gotten and to make sure that Dumbledore didn't have a reason to be alone with her. He was worried that the old man would try to control Hermione again and he didn't want to lose his new friend, nor deal with the wrath it would surely instill in his Aunt and his lord.

Hermione was all too happy to allow the other Slytherins to take care of the others, it helped increase her standing with the other houses and was making it easier to get closer to some of the students that no one was recruiting, such as Ginny and Luna, both of who were sick and tired of Harry getting all of the credit for the stuff that Hermione had done and even what they had done. The two were also much darker than what most gave them credit for, Luna especially. Hermione had kept up the facade earlier that she thought she was crazy, but again it was to make sure no one really bothered her. Luna hadn't taken offense to it either, thinking it was rather fun to have a friend in secret, especially one who believed her when she said she saw random flashes of events or creatures that no one else seemed to know about. Hermione knew better than to not take Luna seriously, besides, she was supposed to be a muggleborn, yet here she was with blood purer than most. Due to this, the three girls were getting rather close to one another, usually meeting in secret so Ginny didn't receive any backlash from her family. Hermione knew that the time was coming to try and sway them to her, but she needed to push them just a little bit more.

That push came sooner than she expected. She was walking the halls before curfew, having just left Ginny and Luna, enjoying the silence that rang throughout the halls when she heard footsteps. Taking a deep breathe, she slid her wand into her sleeve, her training coming into the forefront without her even thinking about it. She focused her ears, hearing the footsteps get closer without seeing anyone. She knew it would probably be Harry and Ron, for while they had been trying to cause a rift with her and the other students, they had kept their distance from her.

"Ron, Harry, why don't you go ahead and come out from hiding. I can hear your thunderous footsteps. You aren't nearly as inconspicuous as you think you are."

She knew that the slight insult would enrage the two idiots. And she was right. The two boys flung the invisibility cloak off of themselves, Ron's face blotchy and jaw tensed, while Harry readjusted his glasses with a glare.

"We know that you're a death eater now you stupid bitch. We are going to make you pay for your betrayal! You don't deserve to be back here, especially now that you have become a filthy Slytherin!"

Hermione scoffed at Harry's remarks, shaking her head at their ignorance. She knew that Ginny and Luna were in the shadows nearby listening to what the two said. This could push the two over to her side if she played her cards right.

"Well, hello to you too. I haven't done anything to the two of you, even though you deserve it for the bullshit you tried to do before. How's your wand by the way? I think that leaving you with a broken wand for attempting to rape me is better than me breaking every single bone in your body, don't you?"

Ron immediately slung a hex at Hermione, causing her to wince and double over, trying to play it up so that they wouldn't realize she blocked the majority of the spell. He raised his wand to curse her again, yelling about how next time he wouldn't fail when Dumbledore and McGonagall walked upon them. McGonagall's face immediately turned to stone as she took in the scene. Harry and Ron cornering Hermione, who had obviously been hit with a spell while she stayed unarmed.

"Harry, Ron, what happened here? Did Ms. Granger try to-"

"Albus Dumbledore! How dare you accuse Ms. Granger of starting this when it was obviously those two little twits! She is unarmed and has obviously been hit with a hex. I have never seen such a disgusting view of bias from you. I'm extremely disappointed in you Headmaster. Extremely. Ms. Granger, why don't you come with me and I will get you cleaned up alright? Albus, I expect something to come of those two."

With that, McGonagall took Hermione to her chambers and cleaned her up, noticing that Hermione wasn't in bad shape at all. She didn't say anything though, knowing that in time Hermione would let her know what was going on. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that she had stayed with the Malfoys and had obviously befriended Draco, which meant that there must have been a good amount of things that she wasn't privy to currently. Perhaps her star pupil had learned things that she wasn't allowed to speak of, or perhaps she was waiting for the right time to tell her. But she knew that eventually Hermione would need to open up to her, especially about her joining Voldemort. McGonagall could sense a powerful glamour on her arm, something that of course Albus wouldn't notice. He was too invested in his Golden boy after all.

After Hermione went back to her dorms and managed to get Draco to calm down, she waited for Luna and Ginny to contact her, knowing that they would want to talk about what had happened. Luckily for her, Ginny was always rather impatient. The two walked into her room, after all, everyone in Slytherin knew that they were friends of Hermione's and they protected their own.

"Ginny. Luna. I need to tell you guys something, something important. I trust you enough to not make you swear an oath to keep this secret, so please don't betray my trust." The two didn't know that if they did react badly and wanted to tell someone, she would just obliviate them and work a bit harder to try again. She knew she would have to be careful about it all, but after what they just saw, there was a great chance that they were going to side with her. With that, she drew her left sleeve up and removed her glamour.

"I know this is going to be a shock to you. Harry and Ron were right that I pledged my loyalty to Voldemort. But what they don't realize is that he isn't a blood purist. That's just how he got some of the older families to join, but now that I have come along, he's doing away with that completely. He's wanting to protect our society, muggleborns and creatures alike. The Order says that they are wanting to protect them as well, but I was the only muggleborn to ever be in the ranks, and even then I wasn't a full-fledged member. They still allowed the laws to never change for werewolves. Look at Lupin. He still got sacked and is a penniless man who has to rely on the charity of Dumbledore. That isn't right at all. Why do you think Voldemort has so many followers? All of the werewolves are supporting him and once he starts heavily recruiting, the other creatures will more than likely fall into his ranks as well. There is more to tell you as well. I'm not muggleborn. The Order killed my parents and took me away from them and placed me under a ridiculous amount of charms and potions to make me befriend Harry and Ron. Hell, they forced the sorting hat to put me in Gryffindor when I was always meant to be in Slytherin. I'm actually a pureblood and am Voldemort's cousin. I know that this is a lot of information, but I couldn't keep it from you guys anymore. I understand if this changes things…but I would really like it if we weren't on opposite sides. You two have become very dear friends of mine and I don't want to have to face you in battle."

The two girls looked at her in shock, taking in everything that she said. After a few minutes, the two frowned and looked at Hermione.

"I never realized just how messed up everything was Hermione. I…I will stand with you. You have never treated me with anything other than respect and I have honestly been questioning the Order for a while now. And…well we were in the hall when Harry and Ron attacked you. If Ron…if he could try and attack you like that and what you said…well I don't think I can follow a leader who allows that to happen to someone he was supposed to be protecting you. I will stand with you."

Ginny had a small frown on her face, but she agreed with Luna. Without them knowing, Hermione delved into their minds, and to her pleasant surprise they were being truthful.

"I thank you two. I will have to make an oath with you, I hope you know that. I would prefer to make it now. It's not that I don't trust you, but it will make sure that you can't divulge this information, even if someone were to preform legilimency on you. It's for all of our protection."

The two girls agreed to the oath, effectively binding themselves to Hermione, and in turn binding them to Voldemort. They never would have thought that this is where their life would take them, but they knew it was for the best, especially if the two were to survive the incoming war. With their fates tied to Hermione, the witch was that much closer to achieving her goals of recruitment, and with a Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor on her side, recruitment should become that much easier. Hermione would be able to do what she was tasked with doing, and no one would be the wiser.