"How much longer till we're there, again?" Harry asked, rubbing his knee where he'd fallen trying to cross a rather tricky creek. "Because, honestly, this trip is the worst I've ever been on."
"Oh, shut it, Potter," Draco nipped, pushing back a curtain of vines. "We're here." Harry rushed forward and looked through. Standing at least seven stories tall was a grey granite castle, complete with turrets, a drawbridge and moat, and a very tall iron fence. Draco turned to Harry and smiled.
"All right," Harry said, pulling back and sitting against a tree. "Now what?"
"Now we wait until it's dark, sneak in, and find Cosette," Draco said, sitting opposite Harry and throwing him a bottle of water from his bag. "What else would we do?"
"I don't know," Harry said and took a gulp from his water. "I just thought we'd have a plan or something, besides, you know, the obvious go in and grab her."
"I don't know where she'd be," Draco said with a shrug. "If she's in the dungeons, I know a secret passage that leads to every cell. If she's in a room upstairs, then we'd have to fly in from the top and use the hidden staircases and corridors. If she's-"
"I get it, Malfoy," Harry interrupted. "I'm not stupid."
"I beg to differ. Hey, what was that for?" Draco asked indignantly, wiping the water off his face.
"Felt like it."
"You felt like spitting water at me?" Harry nodded. Draco shook his head. "I will never understand Gryffindors."
"Yeah, well, you married one."
"Your point?" Draco asked, sipping his water again. Harry shook his head. Suddenly, from behind Draco came a loud crack. Both men jumped and looked at each other. Draco grabbed his bag and tossed an invisibility cloak to Harry, before pulling one on himself. Soon after, they heard voices.
"I'm telling you, Gregory, they'll never get past the charms on the fence, much less past all the traps in the garden."
"What if they fly in? Then all they have to worry about is being seen."
"And they'll get spotted in an instant." The two men came into view. They were dressed in the black robes customary to Death Eaters, but had their masks pulled down. Each was carrying his wand out, as if they were searching for something. They continued in silence for a little while, before Gregory spoke up.
"Do you think her plan will work, MacNair?" he asked so softly, Harry and Draco had to strain to hear. MacNair sighed.
"She's a genius, of course it will work." Gregory nodded and they disappeared around a grove of trees. Harry and Draco waited a few minutes before taking their cloaks off.
"That was convenient," Harry said, laughing nervously and running his hand through his hair.
"So if we get an extra spell or two, we can just fly over. My guess is she'll be in one of the bedrooms." Draco stood and packed up the cloaks.
"Don't think they'd be into the whole torture thing?"
"Cosette's a hot little item, they'll want to be nice to her."
XXX
Thursday was perhaps the longest day Cosette had ever experienced. She woke up too early, but found she had nothing to do until five o'clock, when she'd have to get ready for dinner at six. For most of the morning, she languished in her bed, savouring the feeling of the satin sheets that were always slightly cool against her skin. When she heard the clock strike one, she got up slowly and went to her bathroom. The whole castle was magnificent- the bedrooms in every rich, royal colour imaginable, with the finest cloths you'd ever see; the bathrooms made entirely out of marble and gold. Cosette drew herself a scalding hot bath and spent another hour or so lying there. As her imprisonment drew on, she found herself less and less eager to escape, and spent more of her time sitting somewhere, staring outside disinterestedly. Maybe it would just be easier to give up, she asked herself more times than she'd admit. After all, she did know all of Harry's secrets.
Harry.
Cosette sighed heavily and got out of her bath. Everything ended up with Harry. Damn him for being so perfect, damn him for making her fall in love with him. Sighing, she got out of the bathtub, yanking the cord on the drain and wrapping herself in a towel. She walked to the sink and wiped off a small circle on the mirror. She stared at that little oval of herself until the steam covered her again. Today was not going to be a good day. She could tell already she'd need a few glasses of wine to break a smile. Shaking her head, she picked up her comb and headed to her vanity. Only three and a half hours until she'd be seated next to Malory.
XXX
The sun shining through her window woke Hermione up the next morning. She smiled, stretched, and cuddled back into her covers. She felt so warm, so hazy…all she wanted to do was lie there forever. Or until Draco came home. Just as she was drifting back into sleep, she felt an arm wrap itself around her waist. Had he really come home so soon? What had happened to Cosette? Hermione, a little disconcerted, turned over.
"Gavin?" she asked, mostly to herself. The man lying next to her smiled through his sleep.
"What do you need, love?" he murmured. Hermione stared at him, desperately trying to recall the night before. They'd sat down to dinner, he'd poured the wine, they'd started talking…where had it gone wrong?
"What…"she asked, gulping. "What happened?"
"Was I really that forgettable?" he said, his voice taking on a light teasing note. Gavin propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at Hermione. "We had dinner, and after, while I was escorting you upstairs, you kissed me. One thing led to another…" he smiled, "and we ended up here. You're a smart girl, you can guess what ensued." He leaned over and kissed her gently, Hermione too stunned to respond. Standing up and revealing his entirely nude form, he crossed to the chair and pulled on his pants. "Shall I make you breakfast?" he asked innocently. Hermione shook her head.
"No," she said. "No, I think you'd better just go."
"Oh, come on now, Hermione," Gavin said, coming back to sit on the bed. "We spent the night together, as close as two people can come. You're not going to cast me off as a one night stand, are you?"
"But I'm married!" she exclaimed, sitting up. Noticing that the sheets had dropped and left her exposed, she quickly bundled a blanket around her chest. "I have a husband and a child!"
"Then you should have thought of that before," Gavin snapped. Hermione bit her lip. "Let me get you some water, I'm sure you'll be fine in a while." Gavin smiled and crossed to the bathroom, emerging a few moments later with a glass of water. Hermione took it , gulped half of it down, paused, looked at it, sipped tentatively, and set it down.
"It tastes funny," she said softly, answering Gavin's unspoken question.
"Ah," he said, nodding. "Well, let me get started on that breakfast. You stay here, I'll bring it up." Exiting with a smile, Gavin left Hermione by herself. Once she was sure he had left, Hermione stood and crossed to her wardrobe. Donning fresh pajamas, she next went to the bathroom, pulled her hair back in a long braid, and washed her face. She could just detect a small red mark on her throat, reminding her painfully what she had done. Sighing, she resigned to her bed, and drifted into a half awake stupor that Gavin found her in half an hour later.
"How are you feeling, Hermione?" he asked softly, kneeling beside the bed. Hermione smiled.
"Lovely," she mumbled back, her eyes still closed. "It's a positively wonderful morning." Gavin smiled and helped her sit up. Placing a tray consisting of eggs, toast, orange juice, and a fresh cut rose on her lap, he summoned a chair and sat next to her.
"Felling better about last night?" he asked gently. Hermione paused for a moment, thoughtfully chewing her toast. Something was nagging at her about it, but it seemed somehow more okay that she had done it. Gavin, after all, was an incredibly charming, handsome man. She briefly wondered why she hadn't married someone like him.
…Draco was like him. Better than him.
Hermione stopped, frozen. Draco. She threw her covers off, tossing the breakfast with them. Jumping out of bed, she groped her bedside table for her wand and pointed it at Gavin's chest.
"Get out," she said, gritting her teeth. Gavin looked mildly frightened, but mostly amused.
"Hermione, darling…" he started, coming towards her. For a moment, Hermione relapsed and felt a strange urge to run into his arms, but she battled back and kept her wand erect.
"I said, get out," she repeated, her voice quaking from the exertion of her inner feud. "I'd advise you to do so before I call the Ministry."
"Love," he said again, coming towards her. "We're misunderstood. Come here." Hermione involuntarily took a step towards him. What was she doing? He didn't have her under the Imperious curse- she'd learned to fight that off years ago. The house elves would have noticed if he'd put something in her breakfast, so that was out. Maybe this was what it felt like to be in love with two people?
"No," she said, her whole body trembling. "I can't. I love Draco. I do, I love him."
"If you love him so much," Gavin said, closing in on her and wrapping an arm around her waist, "then why did you sleep with me?" Hermione collapsed against him, crying and shaking. She couldn't explain that, she was tired, she let herself fall into him again.
XXX
Cosette was sitting in an armchair, lazily reading a copy of Magical Mistakes & How to Correct Them, when Malory came to collect her that evening. He led her down the hallway in silence, seating her at a long mahogany table in a deep blue dining room.
"I hope you know," Cosette began when the house elves had set their bowls of soup before them and left, "that I have no romantic interest in you, and being polite at this point will get you no where."
"I'm not trying to sleep with you, Cosette," Malory said, rubbing his eyes. He looked strangely tired, as if he'd been up all night and overexerted that morning. "I just find you intriguing."
"Thank you," Cosette said curtly, picking up her spoon and poking warily at the thick, red mixture before her.
"Gazpacho," Malory informed her. "Cold vegetable soup."
"Oh," Cosette mumbled, taking a spoonful to her mouth. They ate in silence for the first three courses, but when dessert was served, both seemed eager to break the awkward silence.
"Cosette, I want to clear something up with you," Malory said, his voice too loud as if he'd underestimated the quiet. "It was not my idea to kidnap you. They did most of this without my knowledge. However, when you got here, I took you on as my responsibility. You see, that night the Death Eaters invaded your house…" Malory trailed off, rubbing his eyes again. Cosette almost pitied him. "That night, I was next to Edan when he was murdered. They found him in the study. He was sitting at his desk, reading or something. He didn't even see us come in." Cosette took a deep breath and got up. Moving to kneel next to Malory's chair, she placed a soft hand on his arm. He put his hand over hers, and continued. "They put him on his knees, right in the middle of the room. It was dark, no one could tell he wasn't his father. No one cared. But right before…right before they brought up their wands…"
"Shh," Cosette murmured, her eyes filled with tears. "Don't say it, don't go on."
"He grabbed my hand. He grabbed it and said to me, 'Take care of her, please. Just take care of her for me.' And then he was gone, his body limp on the floor. I've tried, Cosette, I've tried to take care of you. But you just wouldn't be a part of what I do, what I am. I can't save you if you defy those that I am led by." Cosette was crying, her sobs soft and muffled. "Will you help us? Help resurrect the Dark Lord's empire?"
"I can't," she whispered, "I won't." Malory kneeled down next to her, taking her in his arms.
"Then help me," he breathed in her ear. She nodded, and he helped her up and to her room. He left her there, lying on her bed and exhausted. She must have fallen asleep, because she woke up at two a.m. She washed her face, and changed for bed. As she was combing her hair, she heard a faint knock on her door. Cosette crossed her room quietly and opened the door. Malory came in, his hair mussed and his clothes rumpled.
"Malory?" Cosette prompted. "What's the matter?" Malory looked around, his eyes darting from place to place, wild in the dark. Cosette could hear noises outside the room in the hallway, hushed voices and hurried footsteps. As they neared her door, Malory approached her. A hand jiggled the doorknob, he took her in his arms. The door exploded open, and Malory kissed Cosette, his hands removing her robe and pressing her to him.
XXX
Harry and Draco had gotten around the traps set for them in the front garden, stunned the guards stationed at each entrance, even eluded the telescopes they knew were searching for them if they were to fly. Draco had snuck into a cellar, squeezed into a crawl space, and headed for the fourth floor.
"That's where the guests stay," Draco had explained, "But the doors are all locked from the outside. It's a good place to start."
They emerged into the corridor, walking slowly and silently under the cover of their cloaks. However, they were not the only ones with that idea. The two men bumped into someone else they could not see, who threw his cloak off and began tossing charms down the hallway at them. Draco threw off his cloak and ran for the stairs, calling for Harry to do the same. Down a flight, around a landing, into the fourth floor, they started trying doors frantically. They were three quarters down when Harry heard a familiar voice. He paused, made eye contact with Draco and bolted toward a door. Draco followed, spitting a spell at the locked door Harry had been trying to finagle open. The two men burst in and stopped dead. Cosette, naked but for a tiny string circling her hipbones, was pressed against a man Harry had never seen before. Malory pulled away from Cosette, who was staring between the three men speechlessly.
"Hello, boys," Malory greeted. "I'm glad to see you again, Draco. It's been far too many years. Harry Potter, what a pleasure to finally meet you." He stepped away from Cosette, leaving her almost naked. She dipped quickly to pick up her robe and pulled it on, looking away quickly. Malory continued. "I must say, Draco, I am quite shocked to hear about your crossover. Infinite power, and you choose a mudblood instead? That's downright absurd."
"Not as crazy as you think," Draco whispered, glancing one last time at Harry and stepping forward. "I'm back now, with Harry Potter. I'll restore you, take your revenge on him." Harry gasped, his breathing short.
"You lied to me!" he yelled, lunging toward Draco. Draco sidestepped just in time, and held Harry under his wand. Draco remained poised but slowly approached Cosette. Bringing up his hand to caress her cheek, he stared straight at her. He spoke softly, just loud enough for Malory to hear, never taking his eyes from Cosette's.
"Tell them all the last pure heir of Malfoy has returned. Tell them to take Potter to the ballroom, and lock him up with jade cuffs. They'll inhibit any excess magic. His wand will be left in my chambers, along with Cosette. Tomorrow, we'll begin the planning." Malory nodded, clapping Draco's shoulder.
"Good to have you back," he said, and left. Harry, unable to move, began cursing at Malfoy, who ignored him.
"Understand me," he breathed, "I will not hurt you. Please, understand." Cosette nodded, turning her face away. Draco sighed and turned to Harry.
"I hate you," Harry spat. "You don't deserve all the love Hermione gave you, all the trust she gave you. You're just like you're father." Draco's head shot up and he crossed to Harry.
"I am nothing like my father," Draco said softly, his wand pressing into Harry's throat. "Say that again and I'll kill you."
XXX
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Author's Note : I UPDATED! Thanks again to the most wonderful beta, Chevi. She's my personal savior & I love her.
I know that these past two chapters have been controversial, but bear with me…it will all get better by the ending.
Also, thank you all for being so patient. I've been going through a really tough time in my life lately, and although I am recovering, it is taking a long time and I hope that you can all understand and will keep reading.
