Dark Mark

Chapter 14


Hermione was a very worried witch.

She paced the Gryffindor common room like a caged animal, wringing her hands at times, absently chewing a strand of her hair at others, gnawing her lip until it was raw. Ron and Harry tried at first to comfort her, but soon gave up; Ron had no real interest in helping with this particular problem, seeing as he had tried and failed miserably to have a romantic relationship of sorts with Hermione himself, and Harry had other things on his mind that were more important than reassuring Granger that her new Deatheater boyfriend would be okay. With Voldemort on the rise and his minions crawling the countryside, he was somewhat of a marked man.

That left only Ginny to stay by her side, as the other Gryffindors were all too busy whispering about Hermione behind their hands to render much aid.

This was the biggest scandal the school had ever seen.

Hermione Granger and a DEATHEATER!? Had hell frozen over?

Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge had formed an unholy alliance of sorts to deal with what were considered the "lesser" criminals, dark wizards who had simply gone mad or committed crimes on a smaller scale than, say, wiping out a street full of Muggles and changing into a rat to allow an innocent person to take the rap. Barty Crouch Junior didn't exactly fall into the "lesser crimes" category, but he had turned himself in (seemingly) and volunteered for the cleansing procedure (ulteriorly motivated) and even proved his newfound proclivity toward good deeds by risking his neck to defend his lover (falsely). In him, however deceptive the ruse, Fudge had his first candidate for the procedure he and Dumbledore had instigated.

The Cleansing was by no means a new device...it had been used, to varying degrees of success, in times past, but had been outlawed after abuses in the system had allowed it to become a tool for forcibly altering people's personalities against their will. Fudge, acting under power bestowed on him as current Minister For Magic, reinstituted the act and sought out Albus Dumbledore, the only wizard he could think of who would be strong enough both magically and morally to perform the procedure and keep it from becoming corrupted again.

Too many wizards had already been executed. Too many were refusing to have their Darkness removed, declaring their undying loyalty to The Dark Lord, spitting in Fudge's face in response to his offer to be Cleansed and reprieved.

Barty Crouch Junior would be his salvation. His first reformed Deatheater. Proof that his idea was a success.

If he survived the procedure.


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"Exactly how risky is this procedure, anyway?"

Hermione let her head sink into her hands, shrugging, close to tears. "I don't know, I really know nothing about it other than the fact that it takes away your 'darkness' and leaves a bad person...well...pretty much leaves them like you and me. You know, normal."

She wiped away a stream of tears with the back of her sleeve. Ginny reached out and patted her hand.

"You really love this guy, don't you?"

Hermione's head jerked up and she looked at Ginny in shock.

"Are you nuts? He's a Deatheater! I just shagged him in a moment of rebellious insanity and went back for seconds. I didn't want to see him executed. I only brought him here to get myself out of trouble for missing the carriage from Hogsmeade."

Her chin began to quiver and she burst into a fresh explosion of sputtering tears.

"AND NOW I HAVE TO LEAVE WITH HIM!!"

Ginny moved her chair closer to Hermione and pulled her over against her, wrapping her arm around Hermione's shoulder and rocking her gently.

"Shhhh...it'll work out...you may grow to love him, in time. Mum says it isn't that difficult once you set your mind to it."

An image of Mr and Mrs Weasley flashed through Hermione's head.

"Oh goddddddddd!!!" She dissolved into uncontrollable hysterics as Ginny rocked her, shushing her and rolling her eyes at curious passersby who stopped to stare at the noisy scene.

"You've done it this time, Granger. I don't see how you're going to get out of this one, and it wasn't even Ron or Harry's fault. This one is totally up to you."

Hermione sobbed inconsolably, unable to get herself together. What a wretched turn of events. But Ginny was right...this one was totally up to her.


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