"I’m glad I killed them," he continued, a cruel and merciless expression wrecking his features. "I’m glad they’re dead because that meant there could be no one keeping you away from me." Hermione swallowed as he looked back at her, probably expecting to see fear in her eyes, but she kept her gaze neutral. "When the war continued, I was busy with other things, such as surviving and satiating my need for blood. But you were always in the back of my mind. I knew I had to get you, there was this incessant need to protect you, to keep you safe from Voldemort and the horrors he planned to unravel on Potter and you. But you were safe at Hogwarts, at first."