Disclaimer: The only place where I own Harry Potter is in my dreams, so credit for characters, places, etc. etc. goes to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 2
"Severus, I hope you understand this doesn't change anything," said a gentle voice.
Professor Albus Dumbledore sat in his office as he watched a clearly stricken man pace in front of him. The old wizard was well-respected in his world; both for his wisdom and calm demeanor, and it wasn't hard to see why. Very few people would have taken it so well if they were told they were to be killed in a few months' time.
"Do you not understand, Sir, what this means?" sneered the pacing man as he came to a halt in front of Dumbledore's desk and slammed his palms down, "Either I die, you die, or we all die."
Severus Snape was a very complex man; he cast an overbearing persona with his harsh face and dark features, but even though Hogwarts students cowered before their Defense against the Dark Arts professor, few people knew the real man behind that sneer. Dumbledore was one of those few people.
"Severus, I believe we both know that I understand completely the implications of Mr. Malfoy's task," Dumbledore replied coolly, "I trust you to take care of Mr. Malfoy, and help him to accomplish it."
Snape rose slowly, straightening himself and bringing his hands back to his side. His face looked pale, and he felt his shoulders weight down with the responsibility he knew he carried, both to Dumbledore and Lily Potter's son. Harry Potter was a strange one, in his opinion. That boy annoyed him to no end, yet for reasons he couldn't explain, though he had a fairly good idea why, he loved Harry as if the boy were his own son.
He turned around and moved to exit the office, but before he did, he mumbled quietly, so that Dumbledore could just hear, "I made the unbreakable vow. I have sworn with my life to protect Draco. I will help him Professor, and when the time comes," Snape turned his head to look at Dumbledore, "I will perform the curse in his place." With that he walked out, leaving the old wizard to reflect on the conversation.
"Have you begun then?" Snape looked at the young blonde sitting in front of him. The two were in his dungeon office discussing the inevitable task they knew that was to be carried out.
Draco had arrived that morning to Hogwarts via a portkey in Malfoy Manor that landed you near the Shrieking Shack. He had easily snuck back into the castle, having done it numerous times. It was now evening, and the blonde was in a rather uncomfortable chair in his mentor's office, staring at his shoes so that he didn't have to meet the stern eyes boring into the top of his head. Draco trusted very few people in his life, and Snape was one of them. His parents had always told him to go to the Slytherin if he ever needed anything, and right now, Draco needed advice. More than advice, Draco needed help, and although he didn't know of the vow that had been made, Draco need out: out of this task, out of the Dark Lord's grasp, and out of this life that had been thrust upon him. But for now, it was just advice.
"Yes," he began slowly, "I've been in the Room of Requirement a few times, but the cabinet…I…I just don't know Professor. I don't know how I will fix it." He glanced up at Snape, and quickly looked back down.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy," Snape clipped each name, "I certainly hope you don't take that as a reason to stop trying," he lowered his voice, and whispered furiously, "Your family is counting on you Mr. Malfoy to not fail, and your parents are counting on me to see to it that you don't. We both know perfectly well what will happen if you do, unless…we must clarify that again?"
"No Sir," Draco muttered quietly, then said, remembering the events of the night before, "Do you know Sir, who has been brought to the Manor?"
Snape's eyebrows flew up. It couldn't be could it? He had noticed that the annoying, know-it-all Gryffindor hadn't been present in his class today, but he had figured she was probably just sick. Clearly the others in her house hadn't realized it yet either, or else the school would've been in an uproar.
"I don't suppose Mr. Malfoy that you are referring to Ms. Granger?" he drawled, face emotionless.
If Draco was surprised that his professor knew about Hermione's capture, he didn't show it as he simply nodded and said, "Greyback kidnapped her yesterday while everyone was out at Hogsmeade. He brought her to the manor fairly beaten up, and now she is being kept prisoner. The Dark Lord wishes to use her to lure in Potter. He says Potter will come running once he realizes his best friend is missing, and he'll probably bring Weasley too; an easy way to kill them all, according to him."
"Indeed," was all Snape said as he looked away from Draco.
If the Granger girl was being held at Malfoy Manor, and if the Dark Lord did indeed intend to use her as bait for Potter, this could mean disaster before it was even supposed to start. No Harry Potter meant no way to defeat the Dark Lord. Stupid, stupid girl! How stupid could she be to let herself get caught like that? He couldn't care less about the Gryffindor witch though; his job was simply to ensure Potter lived long enough to defeat the Dark Lord, and right now, the girl was making his job unnecessarily more difficult than it already was.
Draco meanwhile couldn't take his mind off the fact that a Hogwarts student was currently locked up in his house. He didn't like the Mudblood know-it-all one bit; she was bossy as hell, and acted as if her friends couldn't survive without her. Probably wouldn't, Draco thought with a sneer. She was clever, he gave her that, but her attitude was dreadfully annoying, and he had wished on numerous occasions that she would do the world a favor and just die. He believed in his family's values strongly, and despised her for being a muggleborn, but now that she was actually being held prisoner in the manor's dungeons…he felt uncomfortable.
"May I be excused Professor? That is, if there is nothing else you wish to say to me," Draco asked politely, moving to get up, but hesitating as he didn't wish to anger the one ally he had left.
"Yes, yes, go on Draco. Good night," Snape dismissed him, his back still turned away from the young Slytherin as he contemplated the situation now before him.
"Good night then Professor," Draco replied equally as emotionless as he shut the door behind him and walked back to his dormitory.
Draco didn't get any rest that night as he was haunted by sleepless dreams of what fate had in store for him. He couldn't help but reflect how unlucky he was to be in such a position; everything seemed to be against him, and he didn't know what to do. Little did he know that there was a girl curled up in the corner of her cell in his manor thinking the very same thing.
A/N: First of all, thanks SO much to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favorited (that's not a word btw, haha!) my story! It really means A LOT! 3
Second, I hope you guys liked how I switched over to show what's going on at Hogwarts while Hermione is locked up. If you haven't realized yet, this story will be a Dramione with a lot of action/drama as well, so it isn't all romance. These first 3 chapters are really just an intro, after that I'll make chapters longer and add in more action, drama, detail, and Dramione. ;) I'll do my best to stick to canon, but I may have to twist some things around and add stuff in to move the plot where I want it to go. Remember updates every Saturday afternoon! And I swear that if you review, I will seriously love you forever, haha! ;) And no excuses, because I don't have anonymous reviews disabled! Though I would prefer you review with an account so I can reply.
Also, please indicate in your review if you want me to do Dramione fic suggestions. Every update, I'll do a "fic of the week" type thing that includes one of my favorite Dramiones that you may want to read for your entertainment. I've seen authors who do that in other fandoms, and I thought, why not?
