Unexpected Death Eaters

Promptly at 7:30, Hermione heard a knock on her door. "Coming," she shouted as she walked over to answer it. She opened to door to find Draco Malfoy leaning on the doorframe, dressed in black robes, as always.

"Ready?" he drawled as he got off of the doorframe.

Hermione stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. "Yea, as ready as I'll ever be."

They walked down the hallway towards the drawing room. "Now, where would you like to go?" Draco asked once they had reached the drawing room doors.

"To tell you the truth, I really don't know."

Draco sighed. She had had all day to think about this. "What are you in the mood for?"

"I'm up for anything at the moment. You know more places than I probably do, why don't you pick where we go?"

Draco pinched the bridge his nose in thought as thousands of names ran through his head. "How about the Moon Light Lounge?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"That would be nice, but I couldn't have you taking me to such an expensive place."

"Granger, you know that price doesn't matter. Now, lets go, I'm hungry." He took out his wand to Apparate and looked over at Granger to see her staring at him, with no wand in hand. "Well, are you coming or not?"

"Of course I'm coming, but if you call me Granger one more time, I will hex you till next week." As she spoke, she shook her finger at him, like a mother would when scolding their child.

Draco was going to retort, but thought better of it. He wasn't about to ruin his chances of getting the information he needed. "Fine, Hermione," he slowly let her name roll off of his tongue.

She finally took out her wand, and they both Dissapparated.

~*~*~

At the Order of the Phoenix meeting, Dumbledore decided that it was a good time to tell everyone, not just Harry, about Hermione. He stood in front of the other members and cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I have come across some terrible and disturbing news. It seems that Miss Hermione Granger has joined Voldemort." He was met with a series of gasps and "you're kidding" from around the room. "As unbelievable as it may seem, my sources are unfortunately correct."

"What or who is this source? How can you know that it is reliable?" Remus asked.

"I'm afraid, Remus, that that information is classified."

"Where is Snape? If anyone could give us more details on this, it would have to be him." Arthur asked after noticing that Snape was not present.

"Severus is down in his quarters at the moment. It seems that Miss Granger has informed Voldemort of where his loyalties truly lie."

"Are you sure that it was our Hermione that this source was talking about?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "It doesn't sound at all like her."

"Yes, Molly, we are sure of it. I know how surreal this must seem to you all, but it is true. What Miss Granger's intentions are, I do not know, but surely it is nothing for the greater good." For the first time since breaking the news to everyone, Dumbledore looked over to raven-haired boy; who happened to be staring at the ground. Taking his gaze off the younger wizard, he turned it to the other occupants of the room. "Now, I don't want anyone to bring harm to Miss Granger, or let her know that we have heard what she has done. I have a feeling that she doesn't know we are aware of her recent activities. If you happen to come across her, act normal, as if nothing is out of the ordinary. Now, if everyone would please excuse me, I would like to talk to Harry alone." Without another word, the other occupants slowly filed out of the door. Harry's eyes were still downcast, staring at the blue carpet of the Headmaster's office.

"Harry," at the sound of his name, he looked up at Dumbledore's face. "I know this information must be very difficult to digest at the moment, but you must not let it get in the way of fighting Voldemort."

"Yes, Professor, I understand."

Dumbledore examined his former pupil's expression. His eyes held a lost and confused look, but there was something else to it, something that he seemed to be holding back. Was it guilt he saw behind those emerald eyes? What could he possibly feel guilty about? Surely it wasn't his fault that Hermione had turned on them.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Harry?"

In a raspy voice, he chocked out, "N-no, Professor."

"Very well then, you are dismissed. Remember, Harry, that if you ever need any help, my door is always opened."

"Thank you, Professor." Harry gave his former Headmaster a slight nod and quickly headed towards the door. He had to tell Ron.

~*~*~

Lucius Malfoy entered a room, where the only light was emitting from the flames of the fire burning in the hearth. Next to the grate stood a dark figure who was staring into the fire before him.

"You wanted to see me, my Lord?" Lucius asked as he bowed down to his master.

"Yes, Lucius, I was just wondering how our newest addition was getting along? There hasn't been any mishaps has there?"

"No, my Lord, everything is going along smoothly."

"That's good to hear." Voldemort examined the blonde man in front of him with his piercing, red eyes. There was something on his mind that he wanted to say, but wasn't. Whatever this something was, Voldemort was going to find out. "Is there something you want to discuss with me, Lucius?" he asked in a snake-like hiss.

"N-no, my Lord," Lucius choked out.

"Lucius, Lucius," he clicked his tongue as he walked towards his servant. "I thought you knew better than to lie to me." Voldemort flashed him a crooked smile before he hissed, "Crucio."

For a few short seconds, pain shot up all through Lucius' body. His figure hunched over, his hands grasping his knees, as he bit his lower lip so that he would not cry out in agony. "I'm sorry, my Lord!" he screamed out, giving into the pain. The torture ended as fast as it had begun.

"Now, I will ask you one more time and if you lie again, I will leave Cruciatus on you for even longer. Is there something you want to discuss with me, Lucius?" Voldemort slowly walked circles around the other wizard while he awaited his answer.

After Lucius had got his breathing down to a normal rate, he found his voice to answer. "My Lord, I was only wondering why you wished Miss Granger to stay at Malfoy Manor." He found his strength to stand up straight again. "Not that it is any trouble," he added hastily.

"You had me waste a Cruicatus on you so that I could hear such a stupid question? Honestly, Lucius, you're starting to act more like that sniveling, good-for-nothing Wormtail everyday." He paused as he came to stand in front of the other man and looked at him with his evil eyes. "Now as for your answer, I want Miss Granger to be watched closely and knowing your son, he will do exactly that. Even though she has proven her loyalty to me twice, I still don't believe that she is truly on our side. Yes, I could be wrong, but I don't want to take any chances." Voldemort paused and studied Lucius for a while. "Now, leave."

Not wanting to experience another Cruciatus, Lucius hurried out of the door. He could have hit himself for putting down his guard just for that second. Over the years, he had learned to slightly block Voldemort's ability to venture into his mind. This way, if there were any doubts he had, or any stupid questions just like earlier, he wouldn't be able to read them. Lucius stopped in his tracks, he didn't remember putting his guard down. Could this be a sign that the Dark Lord was growing stronger? If so, that meant that Harry Potter didn't stand a chance this time around. He continued down the hallway with a victorious smirk on his lips and the thought of the dark side conquering all after the war to come.

~*~*~

"More wine please," Hermione asked the waiter as he passed.

"Are you sure you need anymore wine? You've drank four glasses already!" Draco exclaimed. He had already had six glasses himself and was starting to feel a bit tipsy, but nothing he couldn't shake off. Their night had been going on very smoothly, they hadn't had any little fits since they'd left the manor.

"I'll be fine, but for some reason I'm incredibly thirsty." She took a sip of her newly poured glass of wine. "Besides, I would be more worried about you; you've had plenty more than I have."

Draco chuckled at this. "No need to worry about me. My alcohol tolerance is very high; wine is like nothing." He took another bite of his salad, followed by gulp of wine. "I think it's the salad that is making us so thirsty."

"That is an actual a possibility. In Chinese food they add some kind of ingredient that makes you feel like you are fuller than you really are. Maybe they put something in their salad that makes you feel thirsty so you'll drink more and then they can sell more!"

"I think you've had enough wine," Draco said as he made a move to take away her glass, "you're rambling on about nonsense."

Hermione swiped at the advancing hand to protect her glass. "No I haven't and no I'm not! I read it somewhere!"

"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow as a smirk crossed his face. "And my I ask where you read this ridiculous information?"

Hermione sat in thought for moment as she tried to recall the source. "I can't recollect where, but it does sound far fetched doesn't it? I could have read it in some rubbish that Ron and Harry consider a 'good read'."

Draco's ears perked up at the mention of Potter and Weasley. "How are Scare Head and the Weasel doing these days?"

Hermione's eyes darkened and she glared at him. "Wouldn't you know? You just saw them the other day. Remember?"

Oh how could I forget? This wine might be affecting me more than I thought. Draco could almost hit himself for his little slip up. "I remember," he lied, "I was just curious as to what they are up to these days. I really didn't get much of a response from them the other day."

Hermione's eyes slowly filled with mirth as a drunken smile appeared on her face. "You consider Ron's ears turning red and him threatening you not much of response? Well, maybe if you compare it back to our Hogwarts days it isn't much of a response. After all, back then he would have jumped you on the spot!" She laughed to herself as she remembered all the fights that Draco and Ron had broken into.

"I'm glad you find that amusing."

"Well it wasn't at the time of course! But now if you look back, it actually is pretty funny. You boys were always at it, and I'm not talking about just you and Ron, but also Harry!"

Draco would admit that maybe from another perspective it would seem entertaining, but he would never admit that after a while it got quiet tiring. "You three were extremely close at Hogwarts."

"Yes, exactly; at Hogwarts we were extremely close." Hermione stated matter-of-factly.

"Hermione, why won't you just tell me what happened?"

"Why do you want to know so badly?" she snapped at him.

"Let's see; why do I want to know so badly?" he repeated as he thought of a good excuse. "If you remember Hogwarts correctly, I tried everything to split the 'Trio' up. Now that is, I want to know why; especially since it wasn't my doing."

Hermione did nothing but stare at him for what seemed like hours before she finally spoke. "I guess that's a good enough excuse." She sighed. "You know all the rows we would have back at Hogwarts; the ones that started over something totally stupid." Draco nodded as a response to her question. "Well, it all started with one of those between just Harry and I, but this one was different. Instead of saying our bit and then storming off, we just kept yelling at each other. Suddenly all sorts of things were flying out of our mouths; things that people would normally regret the moment they said them. Unfortunately it didn't turn out that way and just made things worse. After many, many hurtful words from Harry, I left. Ron tried to mend things between the two of us of course, but it didn't help; Harry had just cut me too deep this time."

"What did he say to make you so angry?" Draco finally asked after a moment of silence.

"Nothing that I want to repeat," she retorted. "Looks like we need some more wine!" she said in lighter note.

"Yea, more wine," he agreed solemnly as he swirled his wine around in his glass. "Why back at the ice cream parlor did you tell me it wasn't because of dispute between you and Potter?"

"In all honesty, I wasn't planning on telling you a single thing about what happened between us. Plus, like I said before it is none of your bloody business." Hermione then gulped down the remaining drops of her sixth glass of wine.

Obviously this was as much information that he was going to get on the matter for the time being, so he wasn't going to push it. "Is that one of your new robes?" he asked to change the subject.

Hermione looked down at her clothes forgetting the drink in her hand and spilling the red wine in her lap. "Shit!" she murmured to herself as she started to feverishly blot the offending stain with her napkin.

"Hermione, you're a witch. Just do a simple stain remover charm and it will be fine."

"How could I forget?!" She took out her wand and tried to say the incantation, but the alcohol was starting to take affect and she was slurring the words together. After many unsuccessful attempts, she angrily sighed in defeat. She then looked up at Draco with pleading eyes. "Draco, could you?" she asked. With out a word Draco took out his wand and pointed it towards her lap and whispered the spell. "Thanks," she said with a drunken smile on her face.

"No problem; but really, I think you've had enough wine for the night." This time when Draco went to take her glass, she didn't swipe away his hand. "Not to mention we've only had our salad, you need to save room for the actual meal you know."

"True, true," she agreed. Then she leant over with a mischievous grin playing on her lips. "Draco," she whispered, "I think I'm drunk." Then leaned back in her chair and went into a fit of giggles.

Draco just smiled back at her and then let out a sigh. Just what he needed, a drunken Hermione on his hands...

~*~*~

Ron stared at Harry with his mouth hanging open in an "o" of surprise and shock. "Where did Dumbledore hear this from?"

"I don't know, he wouldn't say; he just referred to him or her as 'my source'." This actually had made Harry a bit mad at him. If this source was reliable and working for him, why did it have to be such a big secret?

"Harry, this isn't good news at all. What are we going to do?"

"I don't think there is anything we can do," he sighed. "At least not for a while," added as an afterthought.

"Should we try and talk to her about it?"

"That may not be such a good idea, Ron. Think of all the things that could happen if we met with her."

"Then lets try to owl her." Ron was now scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to do.

"This isn't something you can write in an owl. We just have to wait this out and see what happens."

Ron was running out of ideas and groaned out loud in defeat as he slouched down in his chair. This was not good at all.