As If In Wonderland

“Did you have a good sleep?”, the dark lord asked with a smirk to the girl with a miserable look on her face, chained to the cell she was in, she did not get a good nights sleep.

“Well, the floor was rock hard and freezing, the rag did nothing but make me itch and the food was not food. More like some sort of sludge you wouldn’t even feed a dog”, she spat,

“Manners please, I may kill and torture, but I am at least well spoken”

“Something I admit is unexpected from someone like you, but why should I be polite? You’re going to torture me either way”

“Why so unexpected? I have respect for myself and my home, though I had to have somewhere horrible in my home, everyone does. Its just a shame for you that you ended up staying here”, he smirked while removing a mark on his shoes with a scourigfy. “Oh of course you wouldn’t expect that from such an evil sorcerer”

“I see the robes you wear, I knew of course you had some sort of pride in your appearance…though you don’t even look human”

“I don’t give a fuck about my apparent snake-like appearance”, he chuckled, she hated it when he laughed as it wasn’t lifelike.

“I heard you was pretty good-looking when you was younger”, she teased

“If the worst thing you can say is about how I look then I think I should have rethought about using you in the future, I want someone passionate about the dark arts”

“You know I have never had interest in the dark arts, any knowledge about me you may have gotten from anywhere will only be if I was searching for defensive spells. Though of course you wouldn’t research me, you are a busy wizard, you wouldn’t need too, you know I will probably tell you in the future. You notice you haven’t been able to penetrate my mind?”, it was her turn to laugh as Voldemorts eyes widened for a split second.

“So you know occlumency, very useful for someone in your circumstances. Though you do know if I wanted to look into your mind I could, you just learnt how to not have it as an open book. You do have brains. This is how its going to be from now on, I come down to see if you have given in yet, you don’t then I torture you until I get bored…its your choice”

“Id rather feel the curse than serve you”

“Your choice”, he laughed coldly before casually torturing Hermione for several minutes, he enjoyed it-especially her screams. He lifted it to leave her panting against the wall, shaking visibly but trying to keep her expression still, trying not to show weakness. “You have the power to stop this happening, think about it”

“By succumbing to you? No you have the power, im not a fool, don’t try and treat me like one”

“I like you”, Voldemort mentioned thoughtfully

“What?”, she looked up confused, hearing such unusual words from such a wizard.

“You are quite an interesting person-especially for your age. You are clever, almost as clever as I was at your age, but you are also interesting, I only like you on the level that we have the same interests”

“No we don’t! I don’t murder, torture, make horcrux or use any dark magic!”

“Maybe, but we share the interest to have knowledge and power”, he finished before standing up from his chair, “You will give up someday”.

“But ill use all my energy to not give up till then. You are probably right, I will give up someday, im not strong enough to fight you for eternity, the question is when”

“Very bright…”

“You should have been a teacher or something at Hogwarts, you sound like one with all your comments…”, she relaxed, she wasn’t so scared of him now she was used to his presence, though he did frighten her a lot.

“I prefer a place in higher power than over children, can you do wandless magic?”

“Yes, some, ive been practising in private just in case I would need to use it, it seems your dungeon has some sort of spell on it to prevent me using any form of magic though”

“Only without my permission”

“You’re not my master, I don’t see why you can decide things involving me-”

“You talk so casually for a girl in your position”

“Whatever I say, afterwards I will be tortured, I might as well talk how I like and show you your not my master while I can”

“I see cracks forming in this strong carrier you have formed around you though, pretending you are okay…”, he whispered silkily. He spoke the truth, and it scared her even more, she just wanted to cry and scream but she knew it was pointless.
“Show me a simple spell you can do”

“Why? And anyway I cant do magic”, she raised an eyebrow slyly

“Do not question me Mudblood-”

“-oh so now you are lowering yourself to calling me names”

“Crucio”, he breathed leaving her screaming for him to stop the unbearable pain. “now you either get used to it and shut up or give in and shut up. You can do simple magic while you are in this cell, levitating things is the maximum you can do so you have hardly tried anything like that whilst you’ve been plotting your escape. I look forward to seeing what sort of magic you can do”

“Fine”, she growled before levitating a small stone easily with just her hand before throwing it in his direction, though he deflected it easily she was pleased she at least tried. It landed on the ground with a echoed thud as it rolled across the cell, before Hermione could say anything Voldemort was holding her up by her arm painfully so she couldn’t stand or sit.

“You may want to think about your actions in future, I have been very lenient with you so far but I can be cruel, very cruel”, he told her before lowering his lips to her ear, “there are so may ways I can hurt you, the cruciatus is just one of many ways…”, he whispered before dropping her to the ground making her whimper as she hit the cold stone.


“Please, please just leave me”, she closed her eyes and tears began to form.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t crack so soon”, he mocked her as he expected her to turn away and cry, but she didn’t. she raised her head then opened her eyes-filled with anger and she looked ready to kill.

“It will be a while before you hear me call you my lord. Don’t anger me”, she said coldly but he just let out a laugh.

“I like making you angry, you are much prettier that way”

“Since when has the dark lord been interested in looks”

“The dark lord isn’t. but there are rare occasions when I notice it”

“Im not pretty and I don’t care about what you think or do, just torture me if you don’t like it, I don’t care”

“You do care, no one likes pain, I haven’t felt it in so long though so I wouldn’t know”

“You sound like a robot, everyone feels pain”, she sighed while rubbing her arm sadly where she knew a bruise would form from his grip.

“Technically I do feel pain, it just doesn’t affect me, im to powerful to be hurt but the cruciatus even if I can feel it”

“That’s excellent-I mean…well, not that I agree at all with what you do, that is just amazing magic. Being unaffected by even the cruciatus…”, she said thoughtfully wit her head back against the wall. Voldemort looked on curiously fascinated by how she basically praised him so easily. “Don’t look at me as if you know I will give in one day, just because I think your magic-no, I know your magic is pretty great, but in no way is it right in any way”

“I just cant wait to see your face when I see you as my servant, I could do it now via the imperio curse or even a love potion if I really wanted-making you obsessed with me…but no, this way will be so much more satisfying in the end…I shall see you tomorrow”

“I look forward to it”, she murmured under her breath before he left.

After returning to his bedroom to go to sleep, the dark lord lay back on his massive bed thinking thoroughly-something he did regularly but it was different this time, for once he was thinking about someone other than himself.
“What has she done to me?”, he said aloud to the empty room, never had he thought about someone else when he was in bed alone.
There was something about the girl.

When they first met on the night he won the war, she was scared but strong and willing to die, now she was still scared and strong-though getting weaker by the day, but now it was different, she wanted to live, she wanted to fight him, she had anger.

And he loved that.

*

“All students at Hogwarts still have the same timetables milord except the addition of minor dark arts, everything else is the same as it was before”, Severus announced to the dark lord at a deatheaters meeting.

“Good. Though all mudboods will be used as the ’victims’ in the dark arts subject, any wizard or witch who refuses to participate in this will be punished…see to it that this happens by the end of the week”

“of course milord”, replied Snape

“And to the rest of you, my followers…it has been two weeks to the day now of my success, already I see changes in the world, changes for the better. Some of you may remember the girl I had locked in the dungeons…”, he looked round at all the small nods, “I have seen what some of you think, you cannot hide things from lord Voldemort. I will settle this now, the girl is still alive ad hasn’t been forced into slave duties because I believe the mud blooded witch has something in her that may bring benefits for the world…as well as me personally”, he smirked.
“Crucio”, he muttered subtlety leaving one minor deatheater screaming for mercy, “don’t even think about getting anything out of her, not without my permission especially, she will be and is already mine. She is my hobby you could say…that is all any of you need to know. Remember your duties an keep things in order until next time you are called. You are all dismissed”.

He didn’t spend much time thinking about her, she wasn’t that special, he only ever thought about her after there meetings, evaluating how much she was breaking down.
Over the week she steadily broke down, and it annoyed him she wasn’t any quicker, his eyes gleamed when he noticed her beginning to stop trying to argue against him like she ad previously. He made a decision, if she hadn’t given up by the end of the month, he would just have to force her into it, he was an impatient wizard-the devastation he was capable was evidence of that.

“Soon Mudblood, soon”

___

Interests growing-but this isnt going to be a story about them falling in love like a day later and then they live happily ever after, Voldemort is a very cruel and sadistic wizard-hes been quite easy on her, by his standards