As If In Wonderland

“Milord, may I ask how the Mudblood is doing?”, Lucius asked respectively but eagerly to the dark lord with a bow of his head, the two sat across each other over a desk in the ministry. The dark lord had spent the week sorting out his empire and Lucius Malfoy has been one of his right hand men.

“I wouldn’t have thought you would care about such a thing Lucius…”, Voldemort replied without lifting his head as he read through reports from various death eaters.

“I would never even think about such a thing as caring for a Mudblood milord! I only wished it would have been me who got to kill her on the night of your victory”

“You will get over it soon, I don’t want to hear complaints”

“I wasn’t milord, I apologise if that is how I appear”

“Then you are dismissed”

“Thank you milord”, Lucius finished before leaving the room.

Voldemort sat back against his chair casually, knowing no one would dare disturb him and knowing also that no one except maybe Snape or Lucius had seen him in a state where he almost acted like a normal person.
He had almost forgotten about the girl, she was still unconscious from where he stunned her but made sure she would be fed through magic as long as she was not in a stunned position. That way he could leave her until he had the time and not have to think about keeping her alive, this way he knew she would be alive even if he came back in ten years to wake her.

Lucius interest in the girls wellbeing made him think about seeing her, he had sorted out most of his empire quicker than he originally thought and everything as in order-people just had to get used to how things had changed.

An hour later Voldemort had made his decision and had arrived in Hermione’s cell in his own dungeons. He watched as she lay pitifully on the stone floor, curled up in her school uniform still. He couldn’t see her eyelids as they were covered by her long curled hair over her face, he could just about see her slightly parted lips and a rosy cheek. He was surprised how well she looked even though she was covered in bruises, scratches and her own dried blood from the night of his victory. He made sure to anchor her foot down with a heavy chain to make sure she wouldn’t try to escape-it as impossible anyway but he preferred to see the chain around her ankle.

““Rennervate”, Voldemort said in a bored tone as he lounged on an old chair very causally with one leg over the left arm opposite the girl.

She lay blissfully unaware of her position, in such a terrible dungeon fit for only the worst of people. Her eyes fluttered open before looking around confused, as they came into view of one black dragon skinned boot opposite her she sat up quickly. Those eyes that intrigued him widened when she saw his waxy skin and crimson eyes, she stood up even faster than she sat up and tried to move but found her ankle was anchored down.

“How long have I been here?”

“I would prefer you didn’t ask questions at this time, but you’ve been here for just over a week”

“Couldn’t you of just killed me?”, she sighed sadly.

“And why would I allow that?”

“Because there is no reason for me to live, not anymore”, a single tear slipped off her cheek and pattered onto the stone floor. She quickly wiped all evidence of it from her face and stared him straight in the eye, daring him to kill her. “why must you keep me? For what purpose do you have in store for me?”, he could tell how clever and wise she was, something’s so rare these days especially for someone of her age.

“You will just have to be patience, didn’t you ever learn that or don’t muggles know of patience?”

“I am not a muggle. And you are one to talk of patience!”

“I do remember you…at the ministry when Potter destroyed the prophecy, I recognise your face, I recognised the determination you seem to have against me and my followers…such a pity”

“why would I be for your followers? You haven’t answered my first question”, he let out a cold laugh which frightened her.

“You are bold and possibly brave, neither will get you anywhere while you are here”

“Its all I have left, im not scared of death or you Voldemort”

“You have been listening to Dumbledore I assume then? Only he was so foolish to try and tell others not to fear my name…someday you will be addressing me not as my name, but by my title, I am the dark lord and I am your lord as much as I am to anyone else”

“You will never be my lord!”

“such an innocent child-”

“-I am not a child”

“You will learn to respect me. I haven’t been cruel at all so far, but I promise you, I can be very cruel when I want to be…don’t tempt me to torture you as I wont regret using the cruciatus. I have kept you alive and have not sent you to Azkaban because I have developed an interest for your fiery spirit, you don’t just wish to not live under my rule, you wish to fight me, hurt me. I like that you are so different, many would be too scared to even think of hurting me, but I see it in your mind…”

“Don’t use legilmency on me!”, she demanded, earning her a small dose of the cruciatus

“you will learn eventually how to speak to me. You say you are not a child but you wear the school uniform that states otherwise”

“I am in my sixth year of Hogwarts, im of age! Im not a child”, she assured me grumpily while sitting herself against the cobbled wall behind her, every now and again tugging at her chain to test its strength.

“it’s a charmed chain to only release you when I say, no matter what strength you have or magic you possess, it wont break”, I smirked as she groaned and left the chain alone. “You may be of age but you are still only in your sixth year at school, you are hardly an adult”

“You managed to kill your own father before then, tell me, were you just a child?”, she was mocking him now which angered him slightly, a lazy flick of his wand and she was screaming on the floor. Even Bellatrix was amateur at the cruciatus compared to him, he kept it on her for just a moment but when he lifted it she was left panting and squirming.

“Do not test me my dear. You do not look like a child, but your eyes have not seen enough of life just yet, I intend to change that. You are correct though, I killed before I was your age, I made my first horcrux-you know all about them don’t you…I don’t need to hide that from you, I have my sources. And you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon”

“How much longer must I be here? Ive changed my mind, I don’t want to die, I will not beg. I don’t want to die at your hand, I would rather die in combat knowing I had hurt you at the very least!”, she growled with strength after a moment.

“I wasn’t going to kill you anyway, I would have done it by now if I wanted you dead, but I suppose as long as you’re not suicidal we don’t have a problem. I just wonder how long it will be before you crack from this strong shell shielding you from the potential…”

“What do you want from me? Please, just tell me that at the very least!”

“If someone would have told me of your skills…I would have had you long ago”

“So you want me to serve you?”, she spat disgustedly, he could almost taste the anger radiating off her

“I don’t want you to serve me, I don’t need to want because you are going to serve me”, he couldn’t help the smirk forming as she looked at him in disbelief.

“I will never serve you”

“Oh you shall, but I want you to serve me not unwillingly”

“I will not willingly do anything for you, ever. I will do all that is possible to go against your wishes, do not expect me as a submissive servant like you have moulded everyone else into!”, she stated strongly, pushing herself up and showing she wasn’t weak. “You may have won the war and your empire but you haven’t won such a trivial thing”

“That’s why it will be so much more entertaining for me, a challenge I will definitely solve as I always do, it will just be interesting to see how long it takes”

“I despise you”, she whispered coldly but he met her words with an even colder laugh.

“I don’t want you to like me, do you really think I have cared for such a thing in any time in my life? Your courage is unneeded because someday you will give in, I want you to serve me willingly, even if you hate it, I don’t believe I want to use the imperio on you, it would be so much more…fulfilling when you finally surrender yourself…”

“I promise you that day wont come!”, she shivered, knowing in the back of her mind that she wouldn’t have the strength to fight him for too long.

“we shall see”, he got up and knelt down in front of her, grasping her chin with his fingers, his touch was like ice to her but his crimson fiery eyes contrasted so much. “I could make you my slave this very moment if I wanted…but I wont. It will be much more fun for me to crack someone instead of having to spend everyday with everyone cracking with merely a look…weaklings. You intrigue me miss Granger”

“Im glad I brightened up your day”, Hermione replied sarcastically before snatching herself from Voldemorts grip. He gave a mall stroke of her pouted lips with his fingertips before standing, she pouted even more out of frustration.

“Im sure you will entertain me more in the future, I will be back tomorrow maybe, if not then the next day. I will have a house elf bring you some food and water once a day, I want you alive but im not giving any luxury, but im feeling generous today, I will have you supplied with a blanket so you don’t get ill”

“Should I be grateful”, she said as he turned away

“Sarcasm is something I would prefer you didn’t use, it wont get you very far. You believe I have been harsh on you, you have felt nothing at all yet Miss Granger-and that is a promise”, he told her without looking down at her. With that, he was gone and she was alone.

She looked around the small cell she was in for the first time. Every surface was cobbled stoned and cold, there was no windows but a few cracks were visible showing only the fainted light on the opposite wall she could not reach because of the short chain. The wall smelt of damp but she didn’t care, she knew she would be stuck for a while in the room and she had to get used to it-worrying or moaning about it would only make the days seem longer and her weaker.
“Home sweet home”, she muttered bitterly.

After what seemed like hours and hours, a small house elf appear with a thin bundle, it didn’t speak and Hermione guessed that it had been ordered not to communicate with her.
“Thank you”, she smiled as it handed over the bundle, it almost smiled back as it had never been thanked before but it was not allowed when it involved a prisoner of the dark lord.

After it had gone she was alone once again with the bundle. She slowly unwrapped it to find a glass of water and a bowl of what looked like sludge with a slice of bread, it had been charmed to make sure it didn’t spill when wrapped in the blanket-if you could call it that. It was just a tattered table-sized rag, it probably was an old table cloth.

“Im so grateful for this”, she whispered sarcastically to the walls, it was her only amusement and entertainment…deep down she really did not know how long she would survive, now her wish to live was so strong.
She took a sip of water don her parched throat and picked at her food, it disgusted her but it as all she had, she knew she wasn’t likely to be brought any Honeydukes sweets or food from the great hall at Hogwarts.
“Day one”, she said as she picked up a chalky stone on the ground and marked a tally on the wall behind her, “I have been strong for one day so far…”

*

“Sir, the girl has been given the food Dilly gave”, the house elf informed the dark lord nervously as Voldemort sat in his library reading quietly-something that would surprise many, but he was very literate in real life and could be calm when he wanted to be.

“Did she complain?”

“N-no sir, she thanked Dilly”

“Not that surprising…make sure she is fed the same thing every day at the same time, I believe if she behaves I will consider giving her a pillow maybe, if im feeling generous…you are dismissed”, he quickly added.

Once the house elf has left it was surprised at how the dark lord had spoken, not his usual cold self and he definitely held an interest for whoever the girl was locked in the dungeons. Maybe, maybe things could brighten up eventually, the elf thought with a half smile. Maybe.

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The story is based on my one-shot but please note a few details will be different :)