Days passed by slowly and Kirsten slipped in to a state of apathetic boredom. Every day it was the same pattern. They were fed twice a day in the morning and evening. The food consisted of stale bread, and a thin tasteless broth. Once in the morning they were given a jug of water to drink. Kirsten became used to her constant hunger.

There were no windows in the cellar; Kirsten, and Mr. Olivander lived in constant darkness. Only their feeding schedule indicated whether it was day or night. The cellar was damp, and freezing cold. Kirsten, who had only being wearing a short sleeved shirt, and shorts, was suffering the most. Her joints had become so stiff that she could barely move her fingers.

To pass the time often Mr. Olivander would tell Kirsten as many stories of his world that he could. Kirsten's knowledge on the magical world broadened every day. Kirsten tried to explain how things worked in her world as well, but most of the time she couldn't provide very good answers like when Mr. Olivander asked how their trains worked. When they weren't talking, Kirsten would get up and pace around the cellar in a pathetic attempt to get warm, she would spend many hours sitting on the floor picturing herself on the basketball court and baseball field imagining how she would hit a home run, or shoot the winning point in a basketball game.

One morning Kirsten slept in later than usual. She usually woke up before their breakfast was brought in but this morning she slept past it. Mr. Olivander scooted over towards her to wake her up. He placed his hand on her arm to shake her awake. He pulled back shocked. He quickly placed his hand against her forehead, she was burning up! She was covered in a cold sweat.

"Kirsten- Kirsten wake up," he called urgently. Slowly Kirsten pulled back her eyelids to look at him.

"Why is it so warm all of a sudden?" she whispered hoarsely. "It's like a sauna."

"Kirsten, you're very sick," Olivander tried to explain. But Kirsten's eyes were unfocused and she didn't seem to see him. Shortly after her eyes closed, she slept fitfully. Olivander struggled to his feet and walked over to the cellar door. He began to pound on it with all his might and yell on the top of his lungs.

Finally he heard someone hurry down the steps. "Away from the door, and against the wall!" he heard Draco Malfoy yell, "Don't try anything!"

Olivander scurried back to the wall as the door opened. Malfoy entered holding his wand high. He looked scared yet fiercely determined. "What is it?" he barked.

Olivander gestured to Kirsten. Malfoy immediately noticed there was something wrong with girl. He bent down and felt her forehead. He stayed crouched down for a minute, thinking. It was obvious the muggle needed medical attention, and she certainly wouldn't get better down here in the cold.

"Stay back against the wall," he warned Olivander, "My aunt is here and I'm sure she'd love to punish you if you were to try to escape."

He picked up the muggle and carried her out of the room, keeping an eye on Ollivander all the while. She really didn't look good; her face was sickly white, covered in sweat, she was underweight, and there were dark circle under her eyes.

He carried her into the living room where his aunt was sitting. "What's this Draco?" she asked.

"The muggle's sick." he replied with difficulty. Though the muggle was thin she was still heavy for him to carry. He placed her on their antique couch.

"Draco what are thinking putting that filthy thing on our furniture!" His aunt screeched.

"Where else would you have me put her?" Draco asked testily. "Besides this is my house, and I will put her where I want. Aunt Bella why don't you make yourself useful and grab a potion for her, or do you think the Dark Lord won't mind when he finds out we let his hostage die?" he added quickly when it looked like she was about to yell at him. Bellatix walked out of the room muttering under her breath.

He pulled up a chair close to the girl and kept on an eye on her. He turned around to ask the house elf, Maisy, to get a damp washcloth when he remembered the elderly elf they hired to replace Dobby had died only a few days ago. He cussed. It was so annoying not to have any decent help around the manor. It would take months to find another elf.

His aunt returned carrying a bottle filled with purple liquid. "Prop it up," she commanded. Draco placed his arm under the muggle and moved her to sitting position. Bellatrix shoved the the bottle into the muggle's mouth. The girl coughed as the potion went down uneasily. Draco laid her back on the couch.

"It'll will take a few minutes before it begins to work." Bellatrix explained. She examined the bottle as if it was contaminated with some disease. Finally she threw it into the fire. There was a loud pop and the fire grew rapidly but shrank back down just as quickly. Draco resisted the urge to tell his aunt that you couldn't catch muggle. Of course he had made jokes of that nature all the times to Granger like how dirty the mudblood was and such, but his aunt toke it seriously.

"You can take it back down to the cellar." Bellatrix told him.

"I don't think she should go back there. She'll only get sick again." Draco had a moment of inspiration. "We do need some help around here, besides that's a

muggles proper place isn't it? To be in the service of wizards."

His aunt thought about this for a moment. "I doubt it's possible a muggle could do the work of a house elf." she mused, "But it's better than nothing I suppose. We'll have to find away to keep her from escaping... I think I know a way." Bellatrix started walking out of the room. "Wait here, and watch the muggle. I'll be right back."

. . .

Kirsten woke up on a fancy delicate couch. Kirsten blinked very confused. Slowly she sat up. She was in a elegantly furnished living, with intricate chandelier, and large fireplace. Kirsten thought that she was still in the Malfoy manor, but why was she in the living room? She had a vague memory of Olivander looking down at her worriedly saying she was ill, but she didn't' remember anything after that.

She began to turn her head around to see what was behind her when she felt something smooth, and cold rub against her neck. Someone had put a metal ring around her neck. For a moment Kirsten merely sat there confused trying to think what reason would they have for putting this thing on her neck.

Then she realized, the room was empty. No one was here watching her. Cautiously she stood up. Her head spun a little but it quickly passed. Slowly she walked over to the door leading into the hallway. She looked out of the door. The hallway was empty. Kirsten hesitated, this had to be to good to be true. There was no way she was this lucky. But she wasn't about to sit quietly when an opportunity to escape was standing right in front of her.

She quickly, and silently walked down the hall. No one popped out of the doors, no one stopped her. When she reached the main door she opened it, and sprinted outside. She ran as fast as she possibly could. She was able to see the iron gate. She faltered for a moment when she saw Draco Malfoy outside throwing a ball to three Irish Wolfhounds. But it was too late to stop now. She kept running.

"I wouldn't go past the gate if I were you!" Malfoy called nonchalantly. But Kirsten was already at the gate and she sprinted forward, expecting something to happen but it didn't The collar rubbed against her neck uncomfortably. She glanced over her shoulder Malfy was jogging after her at a leisurely pace.

Okay, Kirsten thought as she ran, the metal ring was defiantly tighter. It was digging into her skin. She stopped when she understood Malfoy's warning. The collar was chocking her. She grabbed at the collar and pulled at it, but it didn't budge. The collar just kept tighting. She was having trouble breathing.

Draco Malfoy finally reached her. He threw Kirsten onto his shoulder and carried her back into the gate. The collar immediately released it's hold. Kirsten gasped for air. Malfoy set her back on her feet.

Kirsten looked up at him as she rubbed her sore neck. "You sick bastard. You sadistic son of bitch." she snarled at him. "You could have warned me!"

Malfoy just raised his eyebrows. "As I remember it I did warn you. It's not my fault you small idiotic brain couldn't understand it, muggle. Now try to understand this because if this doesn't penetrate you're thick skull, you'll learn the painful way. If you speak to anyone the way you spoke to me, they will not hesitate to inflict more pain than you can imagine. And that ring means you can not leave the manor's grounds without a Malfoy, Bellatrix, or Rodulphus accompaning you. In other words we are your masters and you are our slave."