I am going to write this in short, easy to read bits. There will be no epic long chapters. This is a romance but they can't be in love immediately without cause, because come on, Hermione and Malfoy aren't each other's greatest fans. That would just be unrealistic. Okay, enjoy my Dramoine match. Happy reading and thanks to anyone who bothers to review. (I do not own any of these characters)
A soft, insistent sound teased her mind, pulling her painfully back to conciseness. She opened her eyes and alarm coursed through her. She couldn't see much; it was too dark. Her memories were addled, patchy and inconstant like swirls of liquid mercury. It took her a moment to piece together her thoughts. Finally, a familiar voice let her place herself.
"Good morning, mudblood. Had a nice sleep?"
Hermione groaned. Her head hurt and felt like it had been packed with saw dust. The last thing she needed, on top of being kidnapped, was having to spend time with Draco Malfoy.
"Shut up, death eater,"
Malfoy fell silent for a while and Hermione's eyes adjusted to the gloom. She was tied to a chair and seemed to have lost circulation in her extremities. Across from her, Malfoy seemed to be restrained in a similar manner. He sported a black eye and a split lip. The sound that had woken her up was the steady, rhythmic dripping of tepid water coming through the ceiling.
"I don't suppose you know where we are?" asked Malfoy, his anxiety leaking into his words.
"How would I know?" she asked, wishing that she were able to rub her aching head.
"You're meant to be the smart one, aren't you? Or was that always an act?"
She shook her head, "Was that a veiled compliment?"
He made a frustrated sound, "Can you focus a bit, please? I'd like to get out of here alive, if that's okay with you,"
She shrugged her shoulders and tried to move around as much as she could. Her joints were all stiff, as though she had held this position for a long time.
"We need to work out why we're here," she said.
"You mean you haven't got a clue?"
She glared, "You get to complain when you actually come up with an idea. Until then, shut up and let me think,"
"Well, it obviously wasn't death eaters," Malfoy said, looking infinitely glad, "There's no reason they would capture the both of us,"
"Don't be so sure," Hermione said, "You screwed up your job pretty badly, didn't you? It's more likely that death eaters would be after you than me,"
It was his turn to glower.
"Well, it's all pointless, isn't it?" he said finally, "All we can do is guess. I think we'd do better trying to get out of here,"
She snorted indelicately, "And I'm supposed to be the smart one. How do you think we should do that, genius?"
Malfoy opened his mouth, looked around, frowned and then fell silent. Hermione rolled her eyes. Restrained as they were, there wasn't much they could do for the moment. She pulled a little at her bonds but didn't feel hopeful that she would be able to free herself. She had no wand or handy bits of sharp glass. For now, all she could do was wait. She just hoped that whatever was going to happen would happen fast. Being stuck in a room with Malfoy was its own kind of torture.