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and if it isnt…you know that my house is safe for you. I've taught you what I can to keep you from being found if the need arises, in the hope that one of us at least will live to the end of our lives without being hunted.

She could see the line, in his thin spiky handwriting, glaring up at her from the floor. Perhaps the danger was past…maybe. But then, they werent dead yet…the ones who wanted her dead. The traitors.

I know you didn't come here willingly, and perhaps you'll never understand or accept what I did. But I did the only thing I could think of when I knew you were in danger.

When he knew. Hermione hung her head, her brown hair falling down to form a curtain around her head, shielding her from the outside. It was true, she hadnt come willingly. Had sulked for days after that first dinner, refusing to come out and talk to him, or eat with him or anything. She'd screamed and thrown things and tried to run away regularly.

It was a regular beauty and the beast scenario, except he was never very beastly.

He was polite, always polite. In the end it drove her next to insane with his constant formality. Whatever she wanted, once she started being civil, she got.

I never wanted to hurt you.

Hermione stood just inside the french doors, listening carefully. It was around two in the morning, two weeks after she'd arrived, and she was going to try another route out of the house, the others just leading back to her bedroom or to the foyer, and just when she'd thought she'd found a way out! It seemed the house was out to frustrate her, by getting her hopes up and then dashing them on the hard marble floor of the entrance hall.

Stupid entrance hall.

The moon was half-gone and was covered every so often with clouds, though the light was still sufficient to light up a trail across the gardens and into her room. She stepped onto the balcony and climbed over the wrought iron railing, then climbed down the rose trellis that climbed the entire house. She jumped the last two feet and took off in a easy jog, running as quietly as she could along the garden paths, wincing at the noise the gravel made under her feet as she moved quickly over it. Then she was at the wall, covered again by the climbing roses.

Apparently Narcissa like roses.

Either way, the roses really didn't like Hermione, tearing at her hands and barbing any bit of skin they could get hold of. By the time Hermione had fought her way to the wall and then climbed it, which wasn't easy either, she was scratched, exhausted and more than ready to give it up.

Especially when she saw the forest on the other side of the wall.

How the hell had she not seen it from her window? Hermione frowned as she regarded the dark quiet trees, before shrugging and jumping off the wall, landing and tucking herself into a roll so she didn't injure herself. She stood and looked into the trees again, and shrugged.

Okay, I don't have my wand. But I can run.

Humans are hardly the fastest runners in the wood.

I can climb, too. Hermione defended.

So can all manner of lovely Hermione-eating monsters.

Shut up. You're not helping.

Go home. You know the dangers. You know the types of beasties that lurk in the woods. You fight them daily.

I'm trying to go home. And anyway, Malfoy said they wouldn't hurt me.

I meant the manor. And no he didn't. He said they wouldn't kill you. Not the same thing.

Now I know you're crazy. The manor is not home. Nor will it ever be.

You're the one talking to yourself.

Shut up.

Hermione jogged into the woods, taking the path of least resistance and trying to keep going as close to straight ahead as she could manage. There was no sound but the soft rustling of the trees and the sound of her breathing as the air seemed to get thicker and made it harder to breathe.

Hermione slowed to a walk, taking deep breaths to slow her heart rate, but finally had to pause and lean against a tree. She sneezed.

And again.

And again.

"What the hell is going on?" She muttered, sneezing again.

"You've been breathing in nightflower spores and now your lungs are full." Her head snapped up and saw saw Malfoy approaching her, his face expressionless.

"Well, you're breathing them too."

"Deflection spell." Malfoy said simply. "Are you ready to come back now? Or are you going to let yourself get to death's door so you collapse and I have to carry you back?"

"But…" Hermione coughed wetly. "I got over the wall."

"The garden wall, Hermione. The grounds extend another two miles in front of us. Like I said, you'd never get off the grounds."

"Stop calling me that." Hermione demanded. Her tongue felt thick and furry in her mouth.

"It's your name."

"Since when have you used my name?" Hermione swallowed, trying to get some of the crap out of her mouth.

"Come back, Hermione." Malfoy said, stepping forward. "All you're doing here is letting yourself in for bronchitis from hell."

"Malfoy. I want to go home." Hermione complained, wavering slightly as she got dizzy. She tightened her grip on the tree, her nails digging into the bark.

"You cant." Malfoy said.

"Why not?"

"It's not safe."

"So you're keeping me here," Hermione coughed, phlegm rising in the back of her throat, sticky and almost sweet. "To keep me safe?"

"Yes." Malfoy answered simply. He met her eyes, and she saw nothing but guarded caution there. "But letting you die of spore-poisoning hardly counts for keeping you safe, so will you come back already?"

"Fine." Hermione coughed again, her chest muscles spasming.

"Finally." Malfoy grabbed her hand and apparated, dragging her with him.

They appeared in the main hall of the manor, which was lit by glowing spheres of ivory light hovering all around the second floor. When Malfoy looked down at his hand, now streaked with blood, her grabbed her wrists and turned her hands palm-up, ignoring her incessant coughing.

"You're a mess."

"Your rose bushes are evil." She coughed. "Can you fix this?"

"Can you say please?"

"You said if I die it'll defy the whole point in me being here, so stop me dying."

"You're not going to die." Malfoy muttered something and gestured with his wand and her shredded hands healed. She coughed wetly, and when she moved her hand from her mouth it was splattered with a sticky lilac substance.

"That's disgusting." She said. Malfoy rolled his eyes and gestured with his wand again, and the substance disappeared from her hand, and her lungs suddenly felt empty, and she drew in a convulsive breath to fill their complete capacity. "Thanks."

"It's okay." Malfoy shrugged, walking off.

His exit left the entrance hall silent, the glowing spheres not making a sound as they bobbed gently up and down, making the shadows bounce.

and I'm sorry if I did. I only wanted to keep you safe.

All he had ever wanted to do was keep her safe. It had taken her six months to work that out. Six months, four escape attempts, and two balls. Hermione rose and stepped over the letter, but only got to the centre of the bedroom before she stopped. Any purpose she might have had in moving had left her.

She sank to her knees in the middle of the room and wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

God, she missed him.

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Hermione opened the trap door in the middle of her floor and kicked the rolled-up carpet further away as she peered into the hole.

"What I'd give for a wand." She muttered before lowering herself into the hole. Her feet didn't touch the bottom but then hidden rooms were often big enough to stand in, weren't they? "Cant be any worse than trolls, dragons or poisonous flower-spores." She reasoned, before letting go and allowing herself to drop into the hole.

And drop.

Hermione bit back a scream at her continued descent, settling instead to curse Malfoy Manor and Malfoy himself, the stupid bastard who still wouldn't tell her why he'd kidnapped her, despite the fact she'd been at the Manor nearly a month now.

Finally Hermione landed with a resounding 'oof', thanking her lucky stars she hadn't landed funny and broken anything. Fortunately all she had done was achieve a large amount of bruises which would probably be quite a sight come tomorrow morning.

Aware that it would only be a matter of time before Malfoy came looking for her, Hermione scrambled to her feet and looked up. The trapdoor above her was a tiny square of light in the darkness and she sighed.

"Stupid big house." She muttered darkly, starting to walk cautiously forward. Hands in front of her blindly and one foot tentatively put down after another, Hermione's eyes soon adjusted and she could make out pale weird shapes before noticing a brightening glow at the end of the corridor.

"The light at the end of the tunnel is often an oncoming train." Hermione reminded herself, smiling a little as the pessimism of aurors, who preferred to think the worst instead of being surprised.

Hermione stepped into the room, looking around cautiously. The stone room was lit by torches and hundreds of flickering shapes moved quickly in the dim light.

"What have we got here?" a high pitched voice squeaked, and something brushed against Hermione's leg. "Intruder!"

"My name is Hermione Granger." Hermione said. "Do you know a way out?" Something brushed against her breast. "Hey!"

"She wants out!" suddenly she felt covered, little hands touching her chest, her legs, her stomach, her arms, pulling at her clothes and hair and spinning her around.

"Stop it!" Hermione clawed at her invisible attackers, flinging them as far away from her as possible. "Leave me alone!"

"She wants alone, she does!" the mocking voice cried. Then all action stopped and Hermione froze, feeling soft coldness against her thigh.

"Stop it." She said as flatly as she could manage despite the panic rising in her. She felt fingers against the soft skin at the top of her inside thigh. "If you don't stop it," she tried again, "I'll tell Malfoy what you're doing."

"Master Malfoy's far away." The voice sing-songed, a finger entered her and Hermione jumped back, putting a hand down her jeans to try and pull out the tiny creature. There was a high pitched giggle and Hermione shrieked as more fingers entered her, twisting in her channel.

"Stop it!" she shrieked. She was again covered in tiny hands, pulling at her clothes, twisting her nipples cruelly. "Stop it!" There was only more laughter.

"Malfoy!" she screamed. "Damn you Malfoy, you've followed me every other time, where are you now?" Hermione clawed at the tiny bodies, doing her best to ignore the fact she could feel herself getting wet. "Malfoy, please!"

There was nothing apart from the giggles of the creatures and the sound of Hermione's gasping sobs. The tiny creatures spun her around and around, pinching and poking and pulling her hair and clothes as Hermione shrieked and cried.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Hermione spun to see Malfoy standing in the doorway, dressed in his customary black. She had never been so glad to see him in her entire life. All the creatures left her, though she could feel the creature wriggling in her jeans. She clawed at the fastening.

"Get it out!" she sobbed, dragging the tiny invisible monster from her pants and flinging it as hard as she could against the wall.

"Hermione, come here." Malfoy said flatly. For once Hermione did as she was told immediately, stumbling to his side. He wrapped an arm around her waist and tucked her against his side, wrapping his cloak round her as she trembled and sobbed into his shoulder. "As for you," he turned to the tiny creatures. "Revello."

The creatures appeared and Hermione gasped. They were about knee high, with brown skin and very thin limbs and very long fingers. One of them leered at her and she saw with disgust the white substance on his hand.

"What are they?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat.

"They're hybrids." Malfoy said shortly. "Goblin-pixie crosses."

"How…I don't want to know." Hermione shook her head, scrubbing at her eyes with one hand, wiping away the tears.

"No, you don't." Malfoy said. "Come on." He guided Hermione towards a corridor leading from the room, not, she noticed, the one she had entered by. "And I'll deal with the rest of you later."

There was several shrieks and the sounds of fighting and things being knocked over, but Malfoy ignored it, hurriedly guiding Hermione up the twisting stairs before them and through the doors which led to damp, cold dungeons.

Again, Malfoy paid them no mind, just pulled Hermione through them, then up the stairs and out into a corridor Hermione recognised as by the kitchens. Finally, he paused.

"Are you okay?"

"What the hell do you mean, am I okay? No, I am not okay!"

"I meant are you hurt." Malfoy said calmly.

"Mentally scarred, I'm sure." Hermione snapped. She hiccoughed, and took several deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Come on." Malfoy took her hand and led her into the kitchens and sat her down. She looked up at him, confused.

He ignored her confused look and started, to Hermione's shock, to cook. He put a mug of tea in front of her, coupled with a couple of slices of buttered toast.

"Eat that." He said, sitting at the wooden table across from her. "Trust me." Hermione swallowed convulsively and pushed it away.

"I don't think I can." She said with a grimace. He pushed the plate back under her nose.

"Trust me, it makes it better. Even if it does make you feel ready to puke." Hermione opted instead for the tea, wrapping her hands around the scalding mug and lifting it to her lips, ignoring the burning pain the liquid induced in her mouth. It was a real pain. One she could control.

That made it good.

"What were you planning on doing?" Malfoy asked softly. She looked up at him. "How did you get down there?"

"Trap door in my floor. Under the carpet." Hermione answered. Malfoy held her gaze for a moment until she looked away. He swore under his breath. "What?" she demanded huffily. "I didn't know it would go down there!"

"Not you Flicka." He said quickly. "Though if you would stop trying to run away you'd stop getting in life-threatening situations."

"Well, maybe if you'd tell me why I was here I wouldn't get beaten up by your damn trolls, burned by the bloody dragons, suffocated by plant spores and mauled by pixie-goblin hybrids! So tell me Malfoywhy am I here?" There was silence in the room, and Hermione slurped her tea.

"Because your name came up on an assassin's list." Malfoy said finally. Hermione dropped her tea and it crashed onto the table, spilling scalding tea everywhere. Hermione leapt up and away from the burning liquid, then stared as it disappeared, leaving only a faint mark behind it on the wooden table.

"What?" She demanded.

"Your name came up on an assassin's list, and for some reason, though it currently escapes me, I wanted you to be out of his way."

Hermione sat back down, staring hard at Malfoy.

"You're saying that I've got an assassin after me so you brought me here so I'd be safe?"

"Two assassins. They know you're one of the best aurors churned out of that program." Malfoy corrected.

"Oh, so now I feel special." Hermione spat. "Why the hell do you care so much about my wellbeing?" She insisted, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms defiantly over her chest.

"See, that's what's escaping me right now." Malfoy shot back. He sighed. "Look, tomorrow, I have to go into the Ministry. You can come with me and see for yourself."

"And yet you want to keep me safe? What is going on with you, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, standing up. He rose as well.

"I want to keep you safe. You would have never come here willingly, and short of someone trying to kill you and failing, you'd never know you were in danger. So I had to kidnap you, to bring you here. I'm sorry, but that's how it is."

"Well, now I know about the danger, I can keep an eye out for it. So now I can go home, and I promise I wont talk to strangers." Hermione smirked and headed for the door.

"It wont be that easy." Malfoy called after her.

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