Sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy with school, tennis, and my sixteenth b-day party! Anyway, here's the next chapter, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed and put my story on alert! It means a lot!
Do you regret it? The things that you've lost. Do you regret it? All of that personal cost. One day you'll see, regretting isn't worth it, because you'll never, ever be what you want to see.
Draco walked up a steep, grassy hill and plopped down on a rock. He gazed at the vast valley below and thought for a long time. It'd been two weeks since he'd left home. Two long, agonizing weeks and no sign of Hermione.
"Why'd I think I could do this, when no one else had?" He wondered aloud. "Granger's dead. It's all a lost cause."
Draco put his head in his hands and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, he made a final decision. Life had not turned out as planned, for anyone really. Draco didn't like the world anymore and he wanted out. It was all too easy.
He stood up stiffly and looked at the hill around him. In front of him was a grassy decent, the one he had climbed up. But to his left there was a jagged rock wall, with a 150 ft drop. Draco walked over and stepped close to the edge. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Memories flashed through his mind like a speeding train through a wheat field. He met them with a numb, cold mind. None of it mattered and it never would. He braced himself for death, for the end and nearly jumped, but then he heard something. An owl screech. Draco's cool, silver eyes popped open. An owl with a red envelope clutched in its beak, was perched on a rock, looking at Draco. Immediately he stepped back from the cliff and snatched the letter from the owl.
Tearing it open he began to read and couldn't believe his eyes. Lord Grey had Granger.
Hermione paced back and forth in a tiny, dim cell under Lord Grey's house, wondering what was to become of her. She found it odd that they hadn't brought her to Voldemort yet, to cash in on their earnings. It'd been almost a week, and Hermione thought back to the day they had captured her…
She was in a dense forest, searching in vain for berries. She was hungry, so hungry she wasn't being careful. Wasn't listening for the hunter who stalked her. When they were inches behind her, she finally knew. But it was too late. They knocked her out with some spell, and the next thing she knew, she was in a cell.
Hermione sat down on the stone floor. This waiting agonized her to no end. What was taking them so long? Hermione leaned back until she was resting against the wall. She closed her eyes and decided to remember. After all, she doubted she would be able to regret anything the next morning.
"I'm sorry," Grey said to Draco for the third time that evening. Draco stood up in frustration. They were in the study again, and Draco was trying to arrange to get Granger.
"You're sorry?" he spat back. "You will be sorry if you don't bring me to Granger right this moment!" Grey shook his head.
"Oh, I'll be sorry? What are you going to do to me? You have no power anymore, little boy. You have no money, no home, no parents." Draco's face dropped for a moment.
"What do you mean no parents? My mother's at home. My home."
"Oh, that's not what I've heard," Grey chuckled darkly. "I heard you ran away, and the Death Eaters came and killed your mum." Draco's eyes burned in rage.
"Look, I gave you those letters. I gave you the order to get her. I will get her. End of story."
"No, not end of story. You don't hold the reins anymore. You'll do what I say. And what I say is this: I will turn Granger over to the Dark Lord and get my money and glory for that. While I'm there I'll mention that you helped. That ought to save you're pathetic life for a little while. Maybe you can come work for me, eh?" Draco was beginning to lose it. He had to find Hermione, or else his whole plan would fall apart. He had to trick Grey…but how? Draco plumped back down in his chair, and acted defeated. He rubbed his eyes and slouched down in his chair.
"Is she, my mum I mean, is she really…dead?" Draco looked up at Grey with hollowed eyes.
"Yes," Grey said, trying and failing at keeping a smile off his face.
"Then…I guess…I'll have to take your offer won't I?" Draco asked.
"Yes," Grey repeated, getting more and more happy by the minute.
"All I ask is…could I see Granger? So I know you really have her?"
"I don't see why not," Grey replied. He got up and took Draco back to the hallway. From there they walked down a narrow hallway to a narrow stairway that went down into the ground. At the bottom a man sat, lumped on the floor, his wand sitting beside him alight.
"She's down there," Grey pointed, back into the dark room. "I don't like to go any farther. Spiders and such." Draco shook his head and walked forward into the darkness. He eliminated his wand and spotted her cell at the very end of the room.
"Granger?" he whispered. Hermione popped her head up and let her eyes adjust to the light. When they finally did, she focused in on Draco's face.
"You.." she whispered coldly. Draco took a note out of his robe pocket and slipped it under the bars.
"Me.." he replied, then he turned on his heal and walked off into the light.
So what do you think? Why does Draco want Hermione? Also there is going to be a BIG surprise next chapter so keep reading! Thanks!
