Perfection at Last

My master has been defeated. I refused to run away with the rest of them. Why would I? They know how I am, how I behave; they'll track me down and drag me to Azkaban for life. So why bother? Why be dragged when I can walk?

I'm standing in front of the Wizengamot now.

Yes, I followed the Dark Lord willingly. No, I was not under any sort of spell or mind control device. I was not blackmailed either. I was a willing follower.

The court is silent for a moment. Albus Dumbledore is asking the same questions to the other prisoners, in his sickening kind way. To think I used to look up to him...

The court is questioning me again. Yes, I have killed my mother. No, I wasn't forced to do that. It was a order like the rest of them. It was necessary for me to erase all my muggle past in order to be a true Death Eater.

A few of them gasped. They must be asking themselves how I could do such a thing. The answer is quite simple, really. Power.

I wanted power. He was offering it to me, but on conditions. I did what he wanted me to and he kept his word.

I was married to Draco Malfoy, Dumbledore. Don't be thick. That's how I managed to become eligible for the Death Eater position I later occupied. I was called Hermione Malfoy, for crying out loud. Not even The Dark Lord would deny a Malfoy a position in the Inner Circle.

Are you serious? You must be getting old. The Inner Circle means the very few selected Death Eaters who were allowed to actually see the Dark Lord during the past year. We organised the meetings, carried out the most important missions, and gave his orders to the other members of the Dark Order.

I'm staring each of them in the face. They weren't expecting that; some of them avoid my look and stare pointedly at Dumbledore. He's questioning the others.

He turned his attention on me again.

Yes, I married Draco Malfoy and became a Death Eater while I was pretending to be Harry Potter's friend. I never attempted to cause him any harm; I didn't spy on him, and I would have not carried out any order that regarded him, had such an order come.

Great, it's all over.

They've sent me to Azkaban. It's really not the same without the Dementors. It looks a lot like Malfoy Manor: a big dungeon full of Death Eaters.

I'm not scared or worried at the prospect of spending my life in here. It wouldn't be very "Gryffindor" of me, would it? I am a Gryffindor in the end. That's where I graduated. As much as I acted Slyhterin, being around Gryffindor for so long made me one of them inside. That's why--

That's why I could never act against Harry. That's why I sent others to kill the Weasleys. That's why I was glad they failed.

I later became a Death Eater, and it changed me. I could at last act like I had wanted to all along, I could be cruel and power-hungry and still fit in.

It's funny. The only two places where I was ever accepted were the lairs of mortal enemies: Harry and Voldemort. I was accepted by both, and was one of them, but even after switching sides, I could never betray any of them.

My name is Hermione Malfoy, widow of Draco Malfoy, Death Eater of the late Lord Voldemort. I am a prisoner in Azkaban and will die as one.

I have no regrets.