"Search for the Mudblood!" Lucius hissed, "The Dark Lord has given us orders to find her and leave her unharmed. He wants to question her first. She's a friend of the Potter boy. She may lead us to him, if she intends to keep her life."
"Otherwise I'll have to deal with her," Bellatrix cackled as she flicked her tongue in and out of her mouth, exactly like a snake.
Hermione laid on the cold, hard floor, tucked in a tight ball, listening as the Death Eaters contemplated her capture. She lowered her head until her nose touched the cold floor. She put her arms over top of her head protectively and shifted uncomfortably as shivers overtook her body, and shot up her spine. She squeezed herself into an even tighter ball and made sure the invisibility cloak hadn't shifted along with the movement of her body and exposed a part of herself. She pulled it down farther and wrapped herself deeper inside.
Hermione froze as a pair of black leather boots edged closer to her. She knew that she alone could not fight all of the Death Eaters. She cursed herself for not finding a better place to hide.
Hermione let out a silent sigh of relief when the pair of boots walked away in the opposite direction. She curled up even tighter.
"Father, I don't believe she's in here," Draco turned to Lucius.
"Nonsense! She's most likely hiding somewhere," Lucius assured his son.
"Well I don't think she's in here. She's probably somewhere with Potter and Weasley."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I don't see her anywhere, do you?" Before Lucius could reply, Draco begin again, "I can stay behind and search if you would like me too. The search isn't going according to plan anyway. We've only found three Muggles so far. Everyone else has gone into hiding. Go on ahead, I'll catch up soon."
Lucius scoffed and turned to the other Death Eaters. "Come, fellow followers of the Dark Lord. Let us carry on to the next muggle house, and continue our search."
The other Death Eaters drew out their wands, and in a flash each apparated out of Hermione's flat.
Hermione remained still as Draco circled the room.
"Hermione, I know you're in here," Draco broke the silence.
He took a step towards her. Hermione froze in place. His foot bumped her leg and he peeled the cloak off of her back.
"What do you want?"
"Oh yeah, it's nice to see you too Granger," he smirked and offered his hand to her.
She smacked his hand away and stood up on her feet.
"Ow!" Draco cradled his hurt hand.
"Don't you dare touch me!"
"That's no way to treat someone when they're trying to help you," Draco said coldly.
"Help me? Turning me in to be tortured by You-Know-Who is considered helpful?" Hermione was steaming with anger. "Get out of my house!"
"Hold on, you think I'm turning you in?" His tone softened a bit.
"Why else would you be raiding my house, Sherlock?"
"I got rid of them didn't I?" Draco smirked, pleased with himself.
"I… guess you did, but you - help me? That sounds like a load of baloney! Why on Earth would you help me with anything? You hate me remember?"
"I wouldn't say I hate you… just strongly dislike."
"Oh, like that's so much better," Hermione rolled her eyes, "But it still doesn't explain why you're here."
"Hmm… perhaps I did leave out that part, didn't I?"
"You think? Will you please just explain to me why you're here before I hex you?"
Draco held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. What's got your hair in a knot?"
Snarky little prat. Hermione plastered on a fake smile. She waited patiently for him to explain his presence.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"You were going to tell me why you're at my house," Hermione said impatiently.
"Yeah about that, well you see I can't explain that right now."
What do you mean you can't explain it to me right now? I need answers!"
Draco quickly turned in the direction of the window as glass shattered and shot out all over the floor.
Draco took Hermione's hand and pulled her inside of a closet before she could protest.
"What are you… mph." Draco covered her mouth and held onto her shoulders firmly.
She struggled to get away, but he held on too tight.
She gave up after a few minutes of useless struggle. He held on with a firm grip, but stayed silent the whole time. Hermione eventually listened for any noise from the intruder. The only thing she could hear, was shards of glass being crunched under the intruder's shoes and the sound of her own heart beating out of her chest whenever a piece of glass was crunched.
Finally, there was complete silence and Draco removed his hand from Hermione's mouth.
"Next time, just motion for me not to talk instead of putting your "precious Pureblood hands" on my mouth."
Hopefully there won't be a next time.
"Now is not the time to talk," Draco whispered harshly, "Let's go."
"How do you know for sure if the intruder's gone? Where are we going? You've got some major explaining to do," Hermione was getting very aggravated with him.
He wouldn't tell her anything at all, and she had so many questions.
"I said to be quiet," he snapped.
Draco took Hermione's hand much to her displeasure, and apparated out of the closet.
They landed in a very large and dark forest. Hermione looked around. This wasn't just any forest, it was the Forbidden Forest. Why of all places would Malfoy apparate here? Unless it was an accident or he didn't focus hard enough.
There were many questions to be answered and problems to be solved. They had a long journey ahead of them.