The girl felt like her head was a gigantic rock on her body. She swung her head around tiredly as her eyes slowly fluttered open. Hermione looked around groggily, but had to do a double take when she failed to recognize where on Earth she was.

The room she was in was dark and cold and if there was anyone else there, she couldn't see them. A single, open window to her far left allowed some light to shine through, but it looked like sunrise. Hermione was about to get up but felt herself become restrained back from something holding her. She looked to her sides and found thick cuffs chained to her wrists and ankles. She was literally chained against the wall.

The panic began to settle in when no type of spell managed to break her loose. Hermione felt like she forgot how to breathe when she remembered what happened prior to her waking up here. Dumbledore falling and a figure in the distance, and finally, Hermione being met with darkness.

Hermione began to pull at the chains aggressively, which did nothing because of how tightly bound she was. She began to yell at the window manically, hoping to draw some attention from anyone outside. But when she was met with the birds chirping, she gritted her teeth in anger. She continued to pull and yank at the bounds at her wrist, but stopped when the door across from her opened.

She froze and watched a shadowy figure enter the room. It didn't take long for her to recognize the figure as the very last person she wanted to see. Hermione's head spun as he walked in front of the window, eyeing her intently.

The dim sunlight against his face seemed to accentuate Tom's attractive features. His cheekbones were prominent as usual and his slightly curly hair shone under the light. But the thing that caught Hermione's attention were the deep set of bags under his eyes, and the dark circles that took the spotlight from his onyx eyes. Hermione could tell he lacked sleep, but why?

"Keep pulling. I doubt you'll break it though." He taunted as he inspected the chains.

"Why am I here?" She boldly asked, even though she knew exactly why she was here. His eyes flickered at her.

"I have questions that need answers." He stated as he swiped a tongue over his bottom lip.

Hermione faked some confidence and gave a scoff. "Good-luck with that."

He responded with a mocking sneer.

"I think it'll be you who will need luck on their side, Granger." She narrowed her eyes at him, forcing herself to keep eye-contact.

"And why's that?" She retorted curtly. He smirked.

"I have a couple methods in mind." Hermione didn't want to feel threatened, but considering the fact that he knew she was from the future, threatened was all she felt. It did, however, give her some consolation knowing that Tom had no idea that she was a Muggle-born. Merlin knew what he'd do if he did.

"At least take these off." She looked at the cuffs and back up at him. He let out a scoff before speaking venomously.

"Be grateful you're not dead yet." Hermione shut her eyes. Maybe she was having a horrible nightmare and she hadn't woken up yet.

"Now answer me." Hermione snapped her eyes open and held her chin high.

"No." She replied bluntly. He didn't seem phased, and only gave her a devilish smirk in return.

"Very well. Can't say I didn't warn you." He leaned forward and pressed her left forearm against the wall. Hermione tried to pull herself from his grip but he was far too strong.

He pulled his wand out and pressed the tip at her arm, making Hermione remember the time Bellatrix caught her at Malfoy Manor.

He slowly moved his wand, which made Hermione shriek in pain. Her skin stung with each slight movement he made. She felt like the wand was deep in her flesh, moving inside of her arm.

"Please, stop!" She begged as her arm burned in pain.

"I'll ask again, who are you?" He stopped moving his wand and stared at her for an answer. Hermione gulped nervously as she looked away from him, ignoring his question.

He huffed angrily before pressing his wand on her arm again. Hermione fought herself from yelling in pain, and dug her teeth in her bottom lip. She could begin to taste her blood rushing out from how hard she bit.

She couldn't stop herself from the howl of agony she let out when he began moving harder and faster. Tears rushed down her face as she pleaded for him to stop. Hermione looked over at her arm, and through glossy eyes, she could make out the faint trace of a Dark Mark.

"Okay! I'll tell you!" She yelled out, her voice shaking. Seeing the mark being imprinted on her made alarms ring in her head.

Tom lowered his wand with a triumphant smirk before stepping back and eyeing her. The lack of emotion in his eyes truly scared Hermione. He didn't care that he was torturing someone, let alone giving them an irreversible tattoo.

"I...." She struggled to find the right words through her arm pounding in pain.

"I'm from the future. 1998 specifically." She winced softly at her arm stinging.

"Why?" He said coldly. Hermione exhaled in defeat.

"You became a Dark Lord and terrorized the entirety of Britain. I had to come back to try and stop you." She remembered how he ruined people's lives and felt anger bubble within her.

"You killed so many innocent people and made others fear for their lives. People couldn't even say your name without trembling in fear." She looked up at him to see an expression she couldn't understand on his face.

"I became a Dark Lord?" He asked. Hermione nodded.

"That person. The one without a nose that we saw. That was you." Hermione was caught off- guard when the corner of his lips twitched upwards.

"I was a Dark Lord." She shook her head frantically when she realized he didn't care how bad he was; he was happy he became a Dark Lord.

"No. You don't understand! You....you had no followers." She blurted out, lying at the last part. Of course he had followers. The Death Eaters. But the only way to make him stop was to think he had no power.

"What?" He snapped at her.

"No-one was on your side." She whispered, feeling relief wash over her when he clenched his jaw. She looked down as she waited for him to speak.

"You can be my first one then." Hermione's eyes flickered up to him at once.

"What do you-"

"This mark. I've been working on it for some time now." She felt sweat bead on her forehead.

"You can be the first one to carry it. Making you my first follower."

"No! Please, Tom. You....you can't!" She tried to reason with him as she fought the tears daring to come out.

He responded with nothing, not even a stupid smirk. Instead, he leapt forward again and returned to burning her with the Dark Mark.

Hermione cried out miserably until she felt herself lose her voice. He kept going no matter her cries of pain, no matter the fact that he was bad. Her telling him he was a Dark Lord only sent him into a mindset of arrogance.

It felt like forever until he finally pulled away. Hermione didn't even realize he stopped until she saw him standing in front of her. She didn't dare look at him or her arm, even though it felt like it were on fire.

He stood back as if admiring his work.

"Congratulations." He whispered, his eyes glued to her arm. Hermione wanted to cry, but she had run out of tears.

"I'll be back." With that, he spun on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving a broken Hermione to wallow in her misery.

Her entire body felt numb at what just happened. She slowly looked over at her arm and almost choked at the fresh new mark on her arm. It was unmistakeable. The Dark Mark was apart of her now.

She dropped her gaze from her arm and instead to the room she could now make out in front of her. She hadn't realized how much time passed when she saw how bright the sky outside was. Her eyes were swollen and tired from how much she'd cried. Her throat was dry, yearning for water.

As she pathetically tried to convince herself this was a dream that wasn't over, Hermione lost to her overwhelming tire and dozed off, still chained against the wall.