Chapter 2: Heartless Crime
After what seemed like forever, Hermione finally finished the work she needed to get done. She stood up and stretched her arms over her head. She picked up the phone out of the cradle and quickly dialed Ron's apartment number. It rang a few times and Hermione held the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she gathered the papers she needed to take home. Finally, she heard the voice of one of her best friends.
"Hello?" Ron answered.
"Hi, Ron. It's Hermione."
"Oh, hi, Mione. What's up?"
"I just called to ask if you and Harry were still coming by my new apartment tonight." Hermione sat on the edge of her desk and twirled the cord of the phone around her slender fingers.
"Yeah. Harry's on his way over to my house now, and then I have to run a quick errand. What time should we stop by?"
"Well, it's…" Hermione paused to check the watch on her wrist. "It's just after six now, and I'm just leaving work, so let's say seven-thirty?"
"Sounds good. We'll see you then."
"Alright. Tell your parents I said hi. Bye, Ron."
"I will. Bye, Mione." Hermione waited until she heard the dial tone to place the phone back in it's cradle. She stood up and grabbed her briefcase off her chair and her purse off the floor, then walked out of her office, locking the door behind her. She walked down the hall and into the elevator.
"Lobby, please." She said politely to the elevator attendant. He pushed the button for her and she adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder. When the elevator reached the floor she wanted, she smiled at the attendant and stepped out of the elevator. She made her way to one of the empty fireplaces, muttering cheerful words to her coworkers as she passed them. She took a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. She dropped the powder and said her address.
After a few dizzying moments, Hermione opened her eyes to see her living room. She smiled and brushed the ashes off her clothing, then walked over to her couch where she placed her briefcase and her purse. She sighed and walked into the kitchen area. Hermione hummed a cheerful tune while she took a quick, microwave dinner out of the fridge and placed it in the microwave. While that was cooking, she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She pealed off her clothes and turned on the shower. Once the water was at the temperature she wanted, she stepped into the shallow tub. Hermione let out a relieved sigh as the warm water poured onto her head, down her neck, and over her back. She moved her face under the water and smiled as it splashed on her cheeks and down her chest. Hermione stayed like that for a few minutes, just enjoying the feel of the water on her skin. She then took the bar of soap from the soap dish and lathered it in her hands, then ran it over her body, making sure to clean everywhere. When she was done with that, she rinsed the soap off and grabbed the bottle of shampoo. Once her hair was washed, she rinsed out the shampoo and remained in the water for a minute more.
Hermione turned off the water and stepped out of the tub and onto the cool tile floor. She shivered a little from the sudden change in temperature and grabbed a fluffy white towel, wrapping up her hair with it. Then she took another fluffy white towel, this one a little bigger, and wrapped it around her body. Walking back into the kitchen, she took her food out of the microwave and placed it on the counter to cool for a minute. Hermione walked into her bedroom and went into her drawer, pulling out what she wanted to wear. She dried herself off and tossed the towel careless off to the side. She pulled on a pair of black booty shorts over a black thong, and a long black t-shirt over a black bra. Finally, she sat on her bed and put on a pair of red ankle socks.
The towel in Hermione's hair was also discarded with the other towel, allowing her hair to fall down her back. It was still wet, so Hermione did a quick drying spell. As she walked out of her room, she grabbed a hair tie off her dresser to tie her hair into a messy bun. Hermione grabbed a Diet Coke out of her fridge and a clean fork from the sink. She took her food over the couch and sat down, placing the soda on the coffee table and picking up the remote. She ate as she flipped through the channels, finding nothing really interesting on. By the time she finished her meal and her soda, she looked at the clock on the wall.
"They should be here in about a half an hour." Hermione said out loud to no one in particular. She sighed and took the empty plastic tray and the empty can and threw them away. She tossed the fork into the sink and stretched her arms over her head. There was a sudden noise that came from her bedroom. Hermione's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. She went over to the couch and opened her purse, quickly grabbing her wand. She turned off the television so that she could hear better. She held her wand at the ready and walked slowly into her room, looking around for any signs of trouble. "Hello? Who's there?"
When no one answered, Hermione reached over to the light switch and turned on the light. She looked around and saw a vase, broken on the floor. She sighed in relief, figuring that it must've just fallen over. She laughed a little, thinking she was just too jumpy, and set her wand down on her dresser to go pick up the vase.
"Such a pretty little witch. Where are your friends?" A dark voice echoed from the shadow of the hallway. Hermione gasped and stood up, running to grab her wand. She held it at the ready, her face full of confidence.
"Who the hell's there?" Hermione's grip on her wand tightened and she took a step closer to the door. Out from the hallway, a figure in a black robe and a skull mask stepped into the light, his wand pointed at Hermione. A Death Eater. Hermione tried not to let her fear show as she stared at the masked figure. "What do you want?"
"I must say… You've turned into a beautiful young girl since last we met." The figure just laughed and pulled off his mask, revealing himself. Hermione's eyes widened as she stared upon an older vision of her boss.
"Lucius Malfoy!" Hermione spit out his name like venom. She scowled at him, while he just stood there, grinning madly. He took a step closer, but Hermione didn't move. "Expelliarmus!" Hermione yelled. A jet of red light shot from Hermione's wand and hit Lucius's wand, knocking it out of his hand. Hermione caught the wand and snapped it in half, throwing the pieces to the side. Lucius growled angrily and lunged at Hermione. She jumped out of the way, so Lucius landed on her bed while she ran out of the room. He quickly pursued her, a wicked grin on his face. He jumped and caught her foot, knocking her to the floor. She was momentarily dazed when she hit the floor, crying out in pain when she landed on her arm. Her wand flew out of her hand and rolled under the couch. Lucius began to pull her towards him and she struggled to get away, kicking her feet violently. When that didn't work, she turned herself around and clawed his face, leaving scratch marks across his cheek. He screamed and released her, holding his cheek. She quickly got up and ran into the kitchen, looking around for anything she could use. She saw a knife in the sink and grabbed it, turning around just in time to see Lucius walk into the kitchen, wiping the blood off his cheek.
"Give up, Mudblood. You cannot win." Lucius chuckled and took a step closer. He held out his hand for the knife. "Just give up." Hermione watched as he continued to walk closer to her. Her shoulders loosened and the knife lowered. He was nose standing right in front of her. "That's right, you worthless bitch. Just give me the knife."
"Go to hell." Hermione lashed out with the knife and cut into the his arm deeply. He screamed in pain and smacked Hermione across the face, causing her to fall against the kitchen table. Her vision went fuzzy as she felt Lucius take the knife from her hand. He closed his fingers tightly around her throat and pulled her close to him. Hermione coughed and thrashed around, trying to get away from him. He slammed her back against the nearest wall and leaned his face close to hers while he ran the blade of the knife along her inner thighs.
"How does it feel, knowing that you lost?" Lucius whispered in her ear, smirking. Hermione whimpered in response and closed her eyes. "And no one will ever know it was me." Lucius pressed his lips to Hermione's in a fierce, bruising kiss and felt her squirm beneath him. As he kissed her, he slid the knife into her stomach. She gasped, and tried to scream, but no sound came out. Lucius slid the knife deeper into her body until her eyes fluttered closed for the last time. Her body went limp in his arms and he pulled away, letting Hermione's body fall to the floor. He took the knife and performed a cleaning spell on it, then placed it back in the sink. He made sure there was none of his blood anywhere in the house, then Apparated out.