The Fall of Hermione

For full disclaimer see chapter one.

Author\'s Notes-I decided to check back here before I went to bed and was so pleased with the reviews I had received that I decided to go ahead and post chapter two now instead of next week.

There is torture in this chapter, but it is only briefly described.

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The Fall of Hermione

Chapter Two

Becoming a Death Eater

Hermione apparated into a brightly lit room and immediately fell to one knee. The chill of the stone floor seeped through her robes, causing her to shiver. Around her the chamber fell silent, excepting the gentle rustling of cloaks, as all conversation was brought to an end by her entrance.

\"My Lord,\" she said, forcing as much reverence into her voice as possible. Her heart seemed to have lodged in her throat. If she could not make The Dark Lord believe that she was Bellatrix than she would not live long enough to kill Snape.

Snape, the traitor, the one she would make pay for his betrayal. Anger quickly replaced fear, and she clung to it desperately, allowing the hatred to flow through her, enabling her to do what she must to have her revenge.

I am Bellatrix Lestrange! Her mantra from earlier began to play in her head as she waited for The Dark Lord\'s acknowledgement.

\"You are late, Bella,\" Voldemort hissed from nearby. \"I expected better from my second in command. When you did not return in time, I believed you to be dead. In fact, we were just discussing who should replace you, as well as your late husband, in The Inner Circle. We may still continue with that discussion if I find your excuse unsatisfactory. Now, my Bella, rise and explain.\"

Hermione began to stand, placing her wand back in her sleeve, when The Dark Lord\'s words completely sunk in. He and the rest of the Inner Circle had been discussing candidates to replace her and her husband before she arrived.

Her husband. Rodolphus. A mixture of thoughts and feelings began to swarm inside Hermione\'s head as Bellatrix\' memories of him pushed themselves to the forefront of her mind. Confusion followed immediately, each recollection trying to show itself first. She knew with absolute certainty that she could not allow Lord Voldemort to see the bewilderment in her eyes and forcibly clearing her psyche, Hermione raised her head.

The Dark Lord was seated upon a throne made of black onyx, it\'s surface engraved with intertwining serpents. His black robes clung to his skeletal frame and appeared dull in contrast to the shining stone on which he sat. The skin on his face was a luminescent white, and seemed even more radiant when surrounded by the dark hood of his robes. Where lips should have been, there was only a line to show that he did indeed have a mouth. A flat nose with slits for nostrils was above this, making him look more reptilian than human. His eyes, blood red and cat-like, gazed into Hermione\'s with what seemed to be relief shining in them.

Hermione steeled herself for the mental assault she knew was coming. Surely Voldemort would use Legilimency upon her now that he had eye contact. She could only pray that her Occlumency would be sufficient enough to fool him.

Hermione felt The Dark Lord enter her mind and she waited for the feeling of disorder that accompanied the invasion. Instead, she nearly screamed when his voice sounded in her head.

Rodolphus was killed tonight, Bella, he began. I would offer my condolences, but as we both know I am incapable of pity, I will not. In fact, I suppose I should be offering you congratulations. After all, you have long wished for this, haven\'t you Bella?

Hermione reeled with the knowledge that began to open inside her and she fought to keep her face impassive. Memories of Bellatrix\' played themselves in rapid succession through her mind. The Dark Lord teaching her to use Alucimency; the art of speaking to someone in the mind; when she was first named second in command. Rodolphus accusing Bellatrix of having an affair during an argument in their home, another row in a garden, and many more images of the same theme were spinning wildly, blurring together, and making Hermione feel dizzy.

Realizing that she had to reply before Voldemort became suspicious and decided
Legilimency would be a better course of action; she once again forced her mind to calm and began to project her answer into The Dark Lord\'s mind.

I have long wished for his death, Master, she replied. There will be no tears shed for the passing of my husband. Rather, a respectful silence for the passing of a fine Death Eater and a noble pureblood. And while I am also incapable of pity, My Lord, I am most aggrieved that you have lost one of your most faithful servants.

As am I, Bella, Voldemort agreed, a slight smile curving his lipless mouth. Feel fortunate that I know he died before you became unaccounted for tonight, or I would have thought you had murdered a fellow Death Eater. I am sure I do not need to remind you of the penalty for such a treachery. Now, let us return to the matter at hand; your lateness this evening.

\"My humblest apologies, Master,\" Hermione spoke aloud, not daring to take her eyes away from his. \"I was unforeseeably detained by a Mudblood.\"

Voldemort drew in a hissing breath. \"A Mudblood? Our plans should have exterminated the last of them.\"

\"True, My Lord,\" Hermione continued. \"But in spite of that, I encountered a very special Mudblood while doing the final check of Hogsmeade.\"

\"And how, pray tell, is any Mudblood special?\" A deep, cold voice questioned from behind her.

\"You have spoken out of turn, Rabastan.\" Voldemort removed his wand from his sleeve, turning his gaze to the left of Hermione, and hissed. \"Crucio!\"

Hermione heard Rabastan drop to the ground, where he writhed under the curse silently, as a member of The Inner Circle should. Hermione vaguely realized that it was Bellatrix\' brother-in-law that was being tortured, and had to force the memories that surfaced to recede yet again. She silently hoped that this would not continue to occur. Each time Bellatrix\' recollections played havoc in her mind, the chances of The Dark Lord noticing something was amiss increased.

After what seemed like an eternity of anxious waiting, Lord Voldemort removed the curse, turning his gaze back to Hermione.

\"However,\" Voldemort began, sheathing his wand as the sounds of Rabastan gasping and struggling to his feet echoed across the room. \"I am most curious to know how a Mudblood can be special. Would you care to enlighten us all, Bella?\"

\"Certainly, My Lord.\" An evil grin spread across Hermione\'s face. \"If I may use my wand?\"

Voldemort\'s forehead wrinkled, as if he was trying to raise an eyebrow that was not there.

\"Antonin!\"

Hermione heard footsteps approaching from behind her. In a few seconds, Antonin Dolohov walked into her line of sight. He strode past her, coming to a stop before The Dark Lord.

\"My Lord,\" he said, bowing respectfully before turning to face Hermione, blocking Lord Voldemort from her view.

\"You may unsheathe your wand, Bella,\" Voldemort spoke from behind Dolohov.

Typical of the self-preserving bastard, Hermione thought as she reached up to lower the hood of her cloak. You would think that one of The Death Eaters would have realized that he doesn\'t care whether they live or die. I wonder how many times he\'s used one of them as a human shield?

Her hood lowered, Hermione undid the catch of her necklace and laid it upon the ground before her. Removing her wand from her sleeve and aiming it downwards, she spoke calmly, a smirk hidden behind her white porcelain mask. \"Reverto Monile.\"

The necklace grew; it\'s shape changing until it had once again become the body of Hermione Granger. A collective gasp sounded around the room as the members of The Inner Circle recognized the corpse before them.

\"A special Mudblood indeed,\" Voldemort hissed.

Hermione sheathed her wand as she looked up to meet The Dark Lord\'s eyes once again. Dolohov had stepped to the side, allowing Lord Voldemort to view the body that now lay upon the ground. Outwardly he appeared to be quite calm, but the murderous gleam in his eyes betrayed him. Someone would pay for this foul up in his plan.

\"Antonin, return to your place.\"

\"Yes, My Lord.\" Dolohov bowed once more before walking past Hermione to his previous position.

\"Explain,\" Voldemort whispered, his soft voice carrying more menace than any amount of yelling could. It reminded Hermione of Snape and she idly wondered if he had picked up that particular intimidation tool from The Dark Lord.

\"I saw the Mudblood emerge from The Three Broomsticks and head towards the forest. I was unsure what her destination was, so I followed. When it became apparent that she was going to Hogwarts, I attacked. I placed her in a full body bind and then…\" Hermione hurriedly rifled through Bellatrix\' memories. Legilimency. Yes, Bellatrix knew how to do that.

\"I used Legilimency,\" Hermione continued, relieved that the pause in her speech was so small that Lord Voldemort did not seem to notice. \"Evidently she was able to floo out of Hogwarts. She had been too scared to take anyone with her when she escaped.\"

Hermione angrily pushed back the feelings of guilt that had resurfaced at this last statement. It would not do for The Dark Lord to become suspicious now, not when she was so close to her goal.

\"And how did the Mudblood manage to floo, Bella?\" Voldemort asked, a spark of doubt now shone in his eyes. \"The fires were all extinguished and the prisoners disarmed.\"

Hermione felt dread begin to grow inside her before she reminded herself that fear was not an option, not if she wanted to kill Snape. The anger rose up inside her once more at the thought of his name; washing away the apprehension and replacing it with the confidence she needed to be a convincing Bellatrix.

\"She had not been disarmed, My Lord,\" Hermione replied, allowing her suppressed anger at Snape to be heard in her tone; it could only serve her purpose to let The Dark Lord think that she was livid at the carelessness of some lower ranking Death Eaters. \"Judging by what I gathered from the Mudblood\'s limited memories of her apprehension; your servants were much more interested in taking carnal pleasures from her rather than her wand.\"

\"I see,\" Voldemort whispered, his voice eerily calm. \"And could you identify which of my servants was foolish enough to put their lust before my orders?\"

\"No, Master, I could not,\" Hermione answered in an equally calm voice. \"All I could gather was that there were three of them.\"

\"Lucius!\" Voldemort barked, causing all present to jump.

\"My Lord,\" Lucius spoke from behind Hermione.

\"You were in charge of collecting the prisoners arriving by portkey,\" Voldemort began. \"Whose portkey brought this Mudblood to Hogwarts?\"

\"Avery\'s, Master,\" Lucius replied.

\"Bella,\" Lord Voldemort hissed, withdrawing his wand. \"Come stand beside me and give me your arm.\"

Hermione immediately obeyed, quickly reviewing Bellatrix\' memories of Death Eater protocol as she approached The Dark Lord. Pausing before him long enough to bow, she moved to stand on his right, rolling up her left sleeve and presenting her Dark Mark to him. Voldemort wrapped his long, bony fingers around her wrist and placed the tip of his wand to the center of the brand on her forearm.

\"Avery.\"

A sharp burning sensation flared briefly through the tattoo before quickly fading, leaving the Dark Mark raised and blackened, the skin around it reddened.

Releasing Hermione from his grip, he did not bother to return his wand to it\'s sheathe. Instead he held it tightly, laying the hand in which it was held upon the throne\'s armrest, staring quietly before him.

Hermione took the time to hastily lower her sleeve and, as an afterthought, raise the hood of her cloak before looking around. She took great care to not turn her head and give away the fact that she was assessing the room and it\'s inhabitants. Moving only her eyes, she began the appraisal of her surroundings.

The chamber was circular; it\'s stone walls rising high above her head and ending in a flat, stone ceiling. She could see neither windows nor a door before her and, recalling her own memories of a few minutes prior, knew that there were none behind her. The only way to enter or exit the room must be apparition. Another flash of Bellatrix\' knowledge brought itself to the front of Hermione\'s mind.

The meeting room was heavily warded, allowing only The Dark Lord and Bellatrix to come and go freely. Any other Death Eater had to be summoned by Voldemort himself in order to pass through the wards and enter the chamber. Anyone who tried to apparate into the room would find themselves splinched. All in all, it was a rather effective way of keeping unwanted persons out.

Turning her eyes forward, Hermione focused her attention on The Death Eaters comprising The Inner Circle. They would have been more aptly named The Inner Half-Circle, as they stood in a crescent moon shape before the throne of The Dark Lord. Of course he would not allow any of them to stand behind him, backstabbing being one of their more developed talents. One had to be ruthless in order to rise in the ranks. And at any rate, there were only eight positions in the group, making it quite pointless to spread them out around the room. As she carefully surveyed each member in turn, Hermione was assaulted by Bellatrix\' familiarity with them as well as her own.

Furthest on her left stood Lucius Malfoy, Chief Interrogator. If anyone could get information out of a prisoner it was he. Preferring torture to Imperio or Veritaserum, he worked systematically to slowly break his prey mentally and physically, gathering any knowledge he wished from the unfortunate victim before mercilessly ending their life.

Even without Bellatrix\' memories Hermione would have known this, she had witnessed his deftness with inflicting pain first hand; she had watched him kill her parents. One did not necessarily need to torture the person with the desired information to make them talk, there were torments more anguishing than physical suffering, and Lucius knew this all too well.

Hermione was on the verge of reaching for her wand, the heartache of loosing her parents surging forward with aching freshness, when she remembered her goal. Snape. Vowing to herself that she would take Malfoy down if given the chance, she forced her eyes to move on to the Death Eater on Lucius\' right.

Antonin Dolohov, Head of Recruitment for Lord Voldemort. Percy Weasley had been lost to the dark because of him and his persuasive tongue. Hermione could vividly recall the scene from a few hours earlier.

Molly Weasley, Ron, and she stood to the side of a clearing, staring transfixed at the sight before them, unsure of what to do. Percy and Arthur Weasley stood facing each other, wands drawn. Arthur wore the expression of a father who had lost all hope as his son gave him an ultimatum. Join Lord Voldemort or die. With a resigned sigh, knowing that he would never be able to kill his own child, Arthur had only whispered one word, \"Never.\" A single tear rolled down his cheek as he said this. It glowed briefly in the green light that shot from Percy\'s wand, and then it dimmed, falling to the ground a fraction of a second before Arthur\'s body followed it.

Hermione could still hear Molly\'s grief-stricken wail, cut short as Percy turned his wand upon her and murdered his mother with the same heartless cruelty as he had his father. She could still see the shocked look on Percy\'s face as a jet of magic hit him in the chest, claiming his soul in a rush of green death.

It was only after Percy\'s body lay motionless upon the grass that Hermione realized it had been she who killed Percy. He would become the first of many people whose lives she would end during that final battle. It was then also that she understood what Dumbledore had meant by the seduction of the Dark Arts. Now that she knew she was capable of casting The Unforgivables, they seemed to call to her, beckoning her to use them until the corpses of The Dark Lord\'s followers hid the ground, a vision so appealing that she could think of nothing else she wanted more.

Coming out of her somber reverie, Hermione moved on to the next Death Eater, Walden Macnair. She knew him as the Ministry executioner that had been sent to kill Buckbeak in her third year. Bellatrix knew him as the Liaison in The Ministry. Hermione wondered what duty he would be given now that there was no Ministry and then moved on.

To the right of Macnair there were two empty spaces. Rodolphus should have stood in the first and Bellatrix in the second.

Rodolphus had been in charge of training the new Death Eaters, determining where they would be the greatest assets to Lord Voldemort.

Bellatrix, as Voldemort\'s right hand, oversaw the rest of The Inner Circle. The other seven members reported directly to her and she reported directly to The Dark Lord. Hermione wondered at this for a split second, she would not have thought that Voldemort would have given authority over to anyone else willingly, but then she took in her surroundings once more and it made perfect sense.

Given the obvious amount of paranoia Voldemort felt, he clearly did not wish to be outnumbered very often. If only Bellatrix could report directly to him on the daily activities of The Death Eaters, he stood less chance of being assassinated by one of his own. In fact, judging by the memories that now spun through Hermione\'s head, meetings involving the entire Inner Circle only occurred when there were key issues to discuss.

Moving past the empty spaces, Hermione next beheld Rabastan Lestrange. Having been the only Slytherin in the history of Hogwarts to take Muggle Studies, he had been the object of much ridicule from his fellow housemates. However, once he graduated and became a Death Eater, it had served him well. Being the only servant of The Dark Lord with more than a surface understanding of the Muggle world, he had risen quickly through the ranks. Lord Voldemort had even made a new position in The Inner Circle for Rabastan, Head of Muggle Raids. With someone else to run what was considered Death Eater sport, The Dark Lord did not have to sully himself by returning to the world from which he had come in order to keep his servants\' dark needs satisfied.

Next to Rabastan was Octavius Mulciber, Treasurer. Along with keeping monetary records, Mulciber was responsible gathering anything of value during a Muggle raid, selling it in the Muggle world, and exchanging the Muggle money for wizarding funds. In Hermione\'s book, this made him nothing more than a thief. She remembered him as well from the night her parents had been murdered; he had taken their wedding rings before Lucius had begun their torture. Looking away from him before she became tempted to use her wand once more, Hermione turned her eyes to the final member of The Inner Circle, Augustus Rookwood.

Rookwood was in charge of Dark Arts development. The current arsenal of curses was never enough for Lord Voldemort, he always sought new and horrific ways to torment and slaughter those he considered beneath him. So he had created another space in his Inner Circle to accommodate this obsession, placing his most creative servant in charge.

A sound like a gunshot resounded across the room and Hermione hastily turned her attention to the figure of a Death Eater kneeling before The Dark Lord. Avery had arrived.

\"My Lord,\" he spoke from his position on the floor.

\"Rise, Avery,\" Voldemort spoke calmly, giving no indication to his current mood.

Hermione watched as Avery stood, the fear flashing in his eyes as he noted the wand clutched in Lord Voldemort\'s hand. She knew Avery understood quite clearly what was in store for him.

\"Tell me,\" Voldemort continued, anger beginning to infuse his voice. \"Do you recognize that?\"

The Dark Lord motioned to his left and Avery turned his head, his gaze coming to rest upon Hermione\'s corpse.

\"Yes, Master,\" Avery\'s reply was almost a whisper.

\"You failed to disarm this Mudblood, Avery,\" Voldemort hissed venomously. \"A mistake that could have cost us dearly. For this, you will pay. But first, there are two others that share in your mistake. Who are they?\"

\"Crabbe and Goyle, My Lord,\"

\"Give me your arm, Avery,\" Voldemort ordered.

As Avery walked forward, pushing up his left sleeve, Hermione felt a wave of nausea wash over her.

Gods! She frantically suppressed the urge to vomit. Crabbe and Goyle touched me!

Now even more grateful than she had been earlier for her lack of that particular memory, she made a mental note to thoroughly cleanse her old body as soon as she had taken care of Snape.

Avery was stepping away from The Dark Lord, pulling down his sleeve, when another loud crack echoed throughout the room. Looking down at the kneeling figure, Hermione recognized the overly long arms of Vincent Crabbe.

\"My Lord,\" he said, and Hermione noted that he sounded every bit the gorilla he looked.

Lord Voldemort, however, did not acknowledge him, and Crabbe remained genuflect as they waited for the arrival of Gregory Goyle. A short while later, the deafening bang of apparition announced his arrival.

Goyle did not have the chance to speak before he was writhing on the floor, his feeble attempts at remaining silent under the torture echoing of the walls.

Crabbe was next, hardly making any effort to hold in his screams as unfathomable pain filled him. Only when his voice had gone, turning his shrieks of agony into hoarse rasps, did Voldemort move on.

Avery\'s torture was the shortest. Although he thrashed about madly, only a small grunt escaped his lips, pleasing The Dark Lord.

\"Rise, Avery,\" Voldemort spoke as he ended the curse. \"Crabbe, Goyle, kneel.\"

They quickly obeyed, limbs twitching, and waited for Lord Voldemort to continue speaking.

\"As I informed Avery when he arrived, the three of you failed to take a Mudblood\'s wand this evening, enabling her to escape. If it were not for Bellatrix, your ineptitude would have gone unnoticed and quite possibly led to future problems.

\"Do not think for a moment that I am finished with you. This was just a small taste of your punishment. Bella,\"

The Dark Lord turned his gaze upon Hermione.

\"As a reward for discovering this severe oversight, I leave it to you to decide their fate.\"

Hermione thought quickly. Although she would greatly savor their deaths, knowing what they had done to her, she knew that she could not ask for this. Only a betrayal of Lord Voldemort or the murder of another Death Eater was punishable by execution. She needed something that would fit the crime, as well as give her retribution.

\"My Lord,\" she spoke, an evil grin twisting her face behind her mask. \"Their error tonight was caused by their lust. In order to teach them a lesson and prevent this from happening again, I suggest that they be made unable to act upon their carnal needs. I would say a period of one year for Crabbe and Goyle, six months for Avery.\"

Hermione watched as the small amount of skin she could see through their masks paled, heightening her sense of satisfaction.

\"A fitting punishment. I quite agree, Bella.\" Lord Voldemort smiled maliciously at Hermione. \"But tell me, why the leniency towards Avery? He was in charge.\"

\"True, My Lord,\" Hermione replied. \"But he alone faced your curse as a Death Eater should.\"

The Dark Lord seemed satisfied with her answer and turned his wand to Avery once more.

\"Impotens!\" he cried, a beam of black light surging towards Avery, striking him at the apex of his thighs. Avery bent forward slightly as it struck, his eyes closed tightly.

Ordering Crabbe and Goyle to their feet, Voldemort repeated the curse upon each of them in turn.

\"Now,\" Lord Voldemort said, returning his wand to his sleeve. \"Leave my sight.\"

Bowing respectfully, the three men disapparated.

\"Now, Bella,\" Voldemort hissed. Hermione turned to meet his eyes. \"What became of the Mudblood\'s wand?\"

\"I destroyed it, My Lord,\" Hermione replied calmly. \"I would not defile this place with a wand that chose a Mudblood for a master.\"

Voldemort nodded in agreement. \"And what would you care to do with the Mudblood\'s body?\"

\"I wish to keep it, Master,\' Hermione replied evenly. \"As a reminder of your greatness.\"

The Dark Lord seemed to swell at this, Hermione\'s flattery doing what she intended. \"Very well, Bella. Return the Mudblood to your neck and take your place in The Circle. We have much yet to discuss before we can enjoy the festivities.\"

\"Yes, Master.\" Hermione bowed low before walking to her body. She transfigured it quickly, placing the necklace around her neck, and moved to stand beside Rabastan.

\"We have much planning to do for our future,\" Voldemort began, standing and walking towards the Death Eaters before him. \"But, I do not expect it all to be done tonight. We have won the final battle; Magical Great Britain is now ours. That is cause to celebrate. We cannot, however, realistically expect the rest of the wizarding world to sit by and do nothing. My victory over Harry Potter has no doubt caused their fear of me to double, and we can use that to our advantage as we set about to purge the world of the filth that threatens to overtake it. What I want each of you to think about as you celebrate tonight is this; how can we best increase our numbers and rid the Earth of Mudbloods? I will summon you all to me tomorrow and we will discuss your ideas and decide the next step in our plans.\"

The Dark Lord paused, sweeping his gaze down the members of The Inner Circle, stopping at Rookwood.

\"Augustus,\"

Rookwood took a step forward and bowed. \"Master.\"

\"When you leave here tonight, I want you to commend Snape personally for his potions. Without them, we would not have succeeded.\"

Hermione listened intently at the mention of Snape\'s name.

\"Yes, My Lord,\" Augustus replied. \"Am I to bestow any reward upon him?\"

\"No,\" Voldemort hissed coldly. \"He still has many years to suffer for his \'allegiance\' to Dumbledore.\"

Rookwood smiled wickedly at this. \"Yes, Master.\"

\"Retake your place, Augustus.\" Voldemort began to pace as Rookwood bowed and stepped back.

Well, that certainly didn\'t tell me where to find Snape, Hermione thought irritably.

\"Also, a replacement for Rodolphus must be named tonight.\" Voldemort ceased his pacing, coming to a stop in front of Hermione. \"Bella, have you any nominations?\"

Hermione thought for a moment, sifting through Bellatrix\' memories of The Death Eaters for a suitable candidate.

\"Theodus Nott, My Lord,\" Hermione answered. \"Rodolphus always spoke highly of him. Having also seen him in action, I can say that he would indeed be an asset to The Inner Circle.\"

The Dark Lord nodded his head thoughtfully. \"Yes, I believe that Nott\'s name was mentioned shortly before your arrival. Lucius, I believe you put his name forward?\"

\"Yes, Master,\" Lucius agreed. \"I also believe that he would make a fine choice.\"

\"Do any here wish to speak against Nott?\" Voldemort looked at everyone in turn, each remaining silent as he held their gaze.

\"Do any here wish to name another candidate?\" Again The Dark Lord was met with silence.

\"Very well.\" Lord Voldemort moved to stand before Dolohov. \"Antonin, as Head of Recruitment, you shall inform him of his new post tonight. He will be initiated when we meet tomorrow.\"

\"Yes, My Lord,\" Antonin replied.

\"And finally,\" Voldemort continued. \"I have a gift to present to one of you. But first, I must send for it.\"

The Dark Lord pulled from his pocket a small, silver serpent. Touching his wand to the tip of it, he muttered something Hermione could not hear and it disappeared. A few seconds later, a figure appeared next to Lord Voldemort.

The person was obviously a woman, clad in a silver robe, the hood raised over her head and hiding her face from view as she looked at her feet. Silently she lifted her hand and Voldemort extended his towards her. They touched briefly, and when The Dark Lord withdrew his hand he was once again holding the tiny serpent. He deposited it in his pocket and spoke.

\"Remove your robe and look forward.\"

The woman obeyed, her head lifting as the robe fell to the floor. She was completely naked, her face emotionless, her eyes glazed and unseeing; she was obviously under the Imperius Curse. Hermione nearly let out an anguished cry as she recognized the woman. It was Ginny Weasley.

What can I do? Hermione thought frantically. Even if she could reach Ginny before anyone reacted, Ginny could not apparate from the chamber because of the wards. She would need the portkey in order to take Ginny, and Hermione knew that her chances of getting it from Voldemort were poor at best. She decided to wait and see what Ginny\'s fate was to be before coming up with a plan of action.

\"Now,\" Voldemort spoke, bringing Hermione out of her thoughts. \"Who to present her to? All of you have served me well, proving your loyalty and strength time and again. It is indeed most difficult to decide. Bella,\" He turned his eyes upon Hermione. \"As my second in command, I should give her to you. But unless your tastes have altered without my knowledge, I believe her beauty would be wasted. Therefore, I shall not present her to you.\"

Hermione\'s hopes fell. For a moment, she thought The Dark Lord would give Ginny to her, then all she would have to do would be kill Snape, and she and Ginny could escape. Waiting with baited breath, Hermione listened intently.

\"The next in line would have been Rodolphus, but he has fallen tonight. So we move on.\"

Lord Voldemort moved to stand before Rabastan.

\"Rabastan, while others renounced me, you remained loyal,\" Voldemort spoke. \"For fifteen years you waited in Azkaban for my return, and never once did you falter in your beliefs. For this, I present her to you.\"

\"Thank you, Master.\" Rabastan kneeled down. \"You are indeed most generous.\"

\"Rise, Rabastan,\" Voldemort continued, removing the portkey from his pocket and handing it to Rabastan. \"The word to activate this is \'victory.\' It will transport her to the main hall. Take this with you as well.\"

The Dark Lord reached into his pocket and withdrew a wooden box no bigger than a Galleon. \"Her docile nature is, once again, thanks to Snape. You will find everything you need in order to keep her in line as well as instructions inside.\"

Rabastan took the box from Lord Voldemort, placing it inside his robes. \"Thank you, My Lord.\"

\"Now, my loyal servants,\" Voldemort turned to address them all. \"Go and enjoy our victory. Tomorrow, I will summon you once more and we will continue or discussions.\"

With that, Voldemort was gone, the sounds of his disapparition reverberating throughout the room.

Before Hermione could move, Ginny was gone as loud cracks sounded all around her. Soon, Hermione was alone.

She began to shake. She had done it. She had made Voldemort believe that she was Bellatrix, but her relief at this was forgotten as the thought of what Ginny was most likely going through played in her mind. Hermione had to save her. She had abandoned all those people at Hogwarts to save herself; she would not leave Ginny to her fate. But how would she go about doing it? And could she still kill Snape in the process?

She had to think, but staying here would look suspicious. Rifling through Bellatrix\' memories, she found the location of the Lestrange Estate, and concentrating on that image, she apparated, the torches in the chamber extinguishing themselves immediately after.