Dark Granger

Untitled Part 2

Hermione shifted on the metal bench, glancing up at the Aurors on either side of her. Their faces remained impassive, but each clenched a wand so tightly their knuckles burned white. Hermione smiled. As they should. She was, after all, the brightest witch of her age.

That had been the turning point, in not only real Hermione's plan, but friend Hermione as well. Suddenly, Draco had become a fixture in their life. He sat with them at the table and fell asleep on the Gryffindor common room couch. Harry was with him every step of the way, helping him apologize to practically every student he came across.

And then, friend Hermione had to call him a friend as well. Even Ron began to enjoy his company, especially as Draco explained why he said every insult and why they had to keep their relationship a secret since 4th year. Something about fathers, and the Slytherin household; it didn't truly matter to Hermione. What mattered was that now she had a gateway to her most important pawn.

Her knight, perhaps.

And then, another thing threw a wrench in her plans. They had been in the library this time, and friend Hermione and Ron had decided that Draco was a friend. It was just before Christmas break and Draco seemed to be thinking rather hard.

...

"I need to tell you something."

Harry had looked up from his book and, with once glance at his boyfriend, wrapped a hand around Draco's.

"What?" Ron didn't spare the blond a glance. "I really need to finish this potions essay-"

"What I told Harry on the train," Draco said softly. "Why I revealed our relationship in the first place."

Hermione admitted her curiosity; she wasn't above that. She watched the way Harry's hand tightened around Draco's own, lifting it up and pressing a kiss against it. Ron rolled his eyes, and for a second Hermione had pondered her reaction. Then she gave the couple a sweet smile.

"Why then?" Ron asked, placing his parchment off to the side. Hermione copied his movements, watching the way Draco slowly unbuttoned his sleeve and revealed-

The Dark Mark. He was already Voldemort's.

Hermione nearly hissed. It didn't matter. Voldemort was nothing, nothing compared to her magic. She could remove the blasted thing if she needed to and her ritual was 1000x more powerful than anything that pawn could do. Voldemort made it so he could track and contact his followers; Hermione made it so she could control them. Draco might be Voldemort's but toys were easily stolen.

It threw a wrench into her plans, but she could fish it out easily enough.

"Bloody hell!" Ron jumped back. "You're-"

"They tortured-" Draco's voice quivered slightly- "several muggles in front of me. They tortured my mother. I had too."

Harry pressed a kiss against his cheek; clearly, he had already known about this particular wrench. She managed to whiten her face, even as she stood and looked over it. Anyone would've thought she was studying it in horror.

Perhaps she should brand her dolls. Nothing as crude as a skull and snake, Hermione wasn't ridiculous. A simple "H" would do the trick.

Hmm. "H" could be mistaken for Harry. She would have to work on that.

"Why did he..." she had let her voice trail off, barely able to keep her cover. She was so close to her plans truly starting. "What's your mission?" she restated.

Draco shook his head. "It's not important. Dumbledore fixed it. I just..." He swallowed. "I, against all odds, like you and the idiot Weasel-"

"Hey!" Ron interrupted, but he was smiling.