The Worst That Could Happen

The clock chimed and Draco walked into the foyer to see his wife come home.

The door opened and she stumbled in and fell as soon as she had crossed the threshold. Draco whisked over to her and pulled her up harshly. She cried out in pain and he noticed that she had cuts and bruises on her face.

He threw her against the wall. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

"They captured me," she gasped.

"How did you escape?"

She shook her head. "I really don't know," she answered. "I saw the door open and I ran for it. They caught up with me and we fought."

"You had your wand?"

Hermione shook her head. "I stole someone else's."

Draco summoned a house elf to heal her wounds and then led her to the den where his father and mother had gathered for the evening.

"Well," Lucius smirked when the two entered. "Are you friend or foe?" he asked.

"I am never your friend," Hermione spat. "But I am not your enemy either."

Lucius looked to his son and gave him an impressed nodded. "Well done, son," the older man approved. "The Dark Lord was right when he called you a fox. You certainly are...feisty."

"I just have a temper," she countered.

"The Dark Lord has a plan for you, fox," Lucius informed her. "You will assist Severus Snape in potions, considering you were only marked lower than my son because you were not a Slytherin, though I am sure Severus will take a different view of you now. Severus is working on something very important to our cause and he needs the assistance of someone with a brain. I would have asked Draco to assist you, however, since my son can scarcely keep track of his belongings, you will do this on your own. Understand?"

Hermione nodded curtly.

"Draco show her to the laboratory."

Without a word or nod showing that he understood his father's order, he turned abruptly and walked out of the room, leaving Hermione to rush after him.

"What did they do to you?" he demanded.

"They locked me up," she answered. "They wouldn't talk to me or tell me what was going on until Dumbledore came in and told me that they didn't want me to leave and that if I somehow managed to escape, they would kill me."

"Really," Draco asked doubtfully.

"Really."

Draco opened a white door and allowed Hermione to enter before he did. Severus Snape stood in the room, working at his cauldron like any normal potions freak would be.

He left them, alone with their work. He didn't want to be around, especially after what his father had said.

~'~'~***~'~'~

"You've finally showed," Severus drawled as soon as the door was shut. "Can you be trusted?"

"Can you?" she spat in response.

"Why he wanted you to help me..."

"I'm good at what I do."

"You have proven that you are good at being untrustworthy," the professor countered. "You have proven that the death of the most important person in your life is enough to send you over to the side that wanted him dead. You have proven--"

"You have proven you know absolutely nothing!" Hermione yelled, interrupting him. "Have you been told everything? Do you have any idea what it was like being held captive here?"

"I have more of an idea than I should," the potions master informed her coldly. "You forget, Miss Granger, that I once was a Death Eater and I have done to many what Draco Malfoy has done to you. Worse even, perhaps."

Hermione looked down at the tiled floor. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I just...I'm scared," she confessed.

"You're not the only one. Now, are you ready to help me?"

"What are you doing?"

"It would appear that I am making a potion for the Dark Lord, however, appearances may be deceiving."

"Then the truth would be?"

"You're a brilliant student," Snape revealed. "You'll figure it out eventually. Now, I need Venomous Tnetacula seeds. Find them."

"But those are..."

"Illegal, I know."

Hermione walked over to the supply cabinet and found the seeds. She walked back over to the professor and placed them next to his cauldron.

"How hard is it?" Hermione asked softly.

"You'll need to be specific," Snape replied coldly. "How hard is what?"

"Leading a double life?"

"You'll soon find out," he answered.

Not much of a conversationalist...

She sighed of boredom and sat on a stool across the counter from the man who had caused so many problems, not for her, but for Harry and Ron.

Ron...

She felt the tears burn at her eyes again and could not prevent them from spilling over.

~'~'~***~'~'~

He had her back. He had won. That stupid Potter...he'd never get her. He'd never know her as Draco knew her. She was cold and heartless now, killing at her own mercy as well as the Dark Lord's. She had a heart of stone and Draco had been the one to carve it and put it there.

She was starting to show that she was pregnant. The Dark Lord quit asking for her to be in fights, he said that right now, her work with Severus was much more important and much less dangerous for any expecting mother.

Draco was in amazement at what was happening to her, his wife. She was changing both physically and emotionally, and she was absolutely stunning, fitting the role of the Malfoy wife perfectly--with the exception of her attitudes. She was furious with him all of the time, she hated him with a passion that would not die, and she would not submit.

And then there was that necklace. It was something he hadn't noticed at first, and she did her best to keep it hidden from the world, but he had noticed it while he watched as she slept. She never took it off.

It was silver, and it had a lightning bolt pendant on it. Why she never took it off was something that eluded his knowledge, but he felt that it had something to do with that stupid Harry Potter and what had happened to her during the time they had held her captive.

That was a time she would never talk about, no matter what Draco did to open her up about it. He'd even tried legilimens on her! He'd tried everything except Veritaserum--which they were fresh out of, and Snape wasn't too willing to brew another batch for them at the moment--he was too busy with the Dark Lord's work.

Draco had the feeling that Snape wasn't too busy with the Dark Lord's work. In fact, he suspected that Snape wasn't even doing the Dark Lord's work. He had the feeling that there was something going on in the house that wasn't for the cause they were supposedly working towards.

He felt that there were traitors in their midst.