Decimonovenos

Forbidden Obsession

Decimonovenos

Hermione found herself on the outskirts of Hogwarts with Voldemort still grasping her arm. The Dark Mark still burned on her skin, but she was more concerned of what was going to happen now.

"You will stay here, Mudblood, for all to see who your new Master is." He held up her left arm, waving the Dark Mark in her face. "Potter and his followers will soon learn I control everyone and cannot be defeated."

Hermione tried jerking her arm out of his grasp, but he squeezed tighter, pulling her close to his face. His breath was fowl. "You will obey me or the next time your Master needs healing, you will not be capable of handling such a task." Before Hermione could respond, he pulled out her wand and dropped it on the ground, quickly Disapparating.

"Bastard," she hissed under her breath. Rubbing her arm where he had grabbed her, she made her way to the castle to find Harry and Ron.

Most of the students were in the Great Hall. A few were eating, some were picking at their food and others were openly mourning Dumbledore's death. Hermione looked around for Harry and Ron, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Draco stepped in front of her and sneered, "I don't know what you did, Granger..." Looking at her from head to toe, he added, "Or should I say who you did, but to have the audacity to show your face here, I am impressed." Hermione was in no mood to put up with Draco. Several of the Gryffindors spotted her, including Ginny and quickly approached her. Stepping past Draco, she went to meet them.

"Oh gods, Ginny!" she cried, hugging her friend. "Where are Harry and Ron?" Ginny hugged her back.

"I don't know," said Ginny. "Everything has been crazy around here. Dumbledore is dead. Snape killed him. Voldemort then showed up last night with Snape, Lestrange, and Malfoy...Hermione, there's a rumor that you protected Voldemort when Harry tried to cast a curse against him." Hermione let go of Ginny and stepped back.

"Ginny, I – um..." Hermione started but couldn't get the words out. Ginny looked at her and saw the truth in her eyes.

"No, Hermione, it can't be true," whispered Ginny, stepping back. Crabbe and Goyle now joined Draco. The three took their positions at Hermione's side, as if they were her bodyguards. Ron and Harry entered the Great Hall. Upon seeing Hermione, they quickly walked over to her.

"Get away from me, Malfoy!" Hermione snapped.

"Oh, it's not that easy, Mudblood." He grabbed her left arm, pulled back her sleeve and revealed her Dark Mark to everyone watching.

"No!" Hermione screamed, but it was too late. The Gryffindors, along with the rest of the student body froze at the site of the mark. Hermione struggled to get free from Draco, but he was too strong.

"Hermione, how could you?" asked Ron in disbelief.

"It's not what you think!" she cried, after seeing her friends' reactions. Hermione tried to pry his fingers off of her, but he held her arm high above her head for all to see.

"Then why did you protect Voldemort last night?" asked Ginny. Hermione finally jerked her arm free.

"You don't understand..."

"I think she does understand," sneered Harry. "We all understand." His eyes flashed dangerously.

"Snape is a traitor and so are you," hissed Ron. Hermione saw the disappointed look in Ron's eyes and her heart clenched. He truly believed she had crossed them.

"Hermione, I saw you last night," said Harry, trying to keep his voice down. "Ron and I both saw you. You stepped in front of Voldemort, protecting him." The rest of the students gathered around to listen.

"I wasn't protecting him," she said. She looked around, wishing she could speak with Harry and Ron in private, but with the student body crowding them, she had no choice but to defend herself in front of all.

"Hermione, Voldemort has been my sworn enemy since the day he killed both my parents and now you have the gull to tell me you were not protecting him? I'm not that stupid," hissed Harry.

"Harry..." she began, but Harry quickly grabbed her arm, revealing the Dark Mark.

"You made your decision when you stepped in front of him. Now you have taken the Dark Mark. There is nothing left to say." Harry let go of her arm and quickly left with Ron and Ginny following. The Gryffindors, along with several of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned their backs on their Head Girl. Hermione tried to go after Harry and Ron, but Draco grabbed her by her arm and spun her around to face him.

"You are nothing but a Mudblood and you will never be one of us, but I have my orders," sneered Draco, dragging Hermione out of the Great Hall. Crabbe and Goyle faithfully followed Draco.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Let go of me, Malfoy!" yelled Hermione.

"Shut up," he hissed, throwing her on the black leather couch in the Slytherin Common room. He then turned to the only other students in the room, a group of first years and glared at them. They quickly gathered their books and left. Standing in front of Hermione, his hands hung by his sides with fists clenched. His smug look had been replaced by anger.

"Listen and listen closely, Granger. As much as I detest it, I have strict orders to keep you safe and the only way to do that is to keep you close tabs on you. That means you will be staying here in the Slytherin house. Your rooms have already been transferred here along with your belongings. You will not leave without one of us accompanying you. Classes have been cancelled for now, but when they resume, you will be escorted to them too, understand?" Hermione glared at him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she spat while trying to get up. He slammed her back down into the couch.

"Your guardian," he said dangerously. "And believe me, it was not by choice." Draco turned to Crabbe and Goyle. "Show her to her rooms." He then left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A week later, Professor McGonagall was named the Headmistress of Hogwarts. She was desperate to increase the security of Hogwarts since Voldemort's last appearance, so she decided to not only have more members of the Order present but she also hired one to take Snape's place. The only willing member was Tonks, so she was named the new Professor of Potions.

"Good morning, class!" said Tonks cheerfully from the back of the classroom. She was dressed in professor robes that were bright purple, contrasting with her pink hair and she walked quickly so her robes billowed behind her. "I practiced all night on that. How did I do?" referring to her robes.

The only one who reacted was Ron and that was because he sneezed. "Hmm...tough crowd," she muttered, but it didn't discourage her. She scanned the instructions for a particular potion in the book in front of her, double checking the ingredients.

"We are going to brew something exciting." This caught a few of the students' attention. Harry and Ron were seated in their regular seats and Hermione was seated next to Draco along with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of them. She decided not to resist Draco by allowing him to carry out his orders of "protecting" her.

"We are going to brew a love potion. First, we will need the eggs from an Ashwinder, which I was able to acquire prior to today's class." She pulled out two dozen Ashwinder eggs.

"Those are frozen, right?" asked Hermione. Hermione was very familiar with the properties of Ashwinder eggs – as long as they remained frozen, they would not cause damage.

"Frozen?" questioned Tonks. "Oops. I guess in all of the excitement, I forgot." Hermione's eye lit up with fear, but it was too late. The eggs burst into flames. In minutes the entire potions classroom was engulfed in flames.

Tonks lasted one whole class before being replaced and Tonks spent the rest of the week rebuilding the potions classroom. Everyone escaped with only minor injuries. Tonks was then reassigned to assist the new Defense Against the Dark Art's teacher. Professor McGonagall explained it would be safer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione sat looking out the window of her new room. It had been a week and still no word from Severus, but it didn't matter. Their connection was strong and she knew he was safe.

Professor McGonagall knew she was staying in the Slytherin house. Every time Hermione approached her to discuss it, McGonagall would dismiss her, making some excuse or another. Hermione was painfully aware that her Head of House also saw her was a traitor, but against the wishes of the student body, Hermione was still the Head Girl. Hermione faithfully attended to her duties. At times it was awkward having to reprimand those who were breaking the rules, especially if it was a Gryffindor, but she took her position seriously. Of course intimidation was a factor she was never alone, always in the company of a Slytherin, giving little room for argument from the other students.

Still dressed in her Gryffindor school uniform, she put her robes on, tucked her wand in an inside pocket and left to do her final set of rounds be retiring for the night. She was still a Gryffindor and unless the sorting hat said otherwise, she would proudly display her house colors.

She walked through the Slytherin common room to find Crabbe spread out on the couch, snoring loudly. He was assigned to guard her tonight. Hermione didn't even bother to wake him. She was actually looking forward to walking the castle without company.

Hermione always felt closeness to Severus when walking down in the dungeons or near his rooms, but tonight was different. Walking deeper into the dungeons, the candlelight always leaned in a particular direction but tonight the shadows flickered differently. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and a chill ran down her spine. Realizing she was not alone, she quickly reached for her wand, but it was too late as she found herself pinned against the stone wall.

~TBC