A/N: sorry I haven't uploaded for a week. I have been very busy, college & all that. & apologize in advance if it is another week or more before the net chapter

Okay, to any readers that read ch1-3 before I uploaded this chapter: let me say that I fear I may have misled you. I realized that in my Ch1 A/N I said that there "would be no happy Dramione ending". Let me reiterate: There is no Dramione—period. So I apologize.

Here is the edited portion of the Ch1 A/N: "Draco is not a nice person in this story. (someone has to be the villain. He makes it personal.) Therefore, this is not a Dramione story*; they are in no way romantically involved. So if you are offended by rape, Evil!Draco, etc., or refuse to believe that D/Hr aren't meant to be, don't read.

*Perhaps you are wondering why one of the genres is "romance" if there's no Dramione. ...you will see :D . Hint: I wish I were able to tag more than 2 characters. So I just had to choose the main protagonist (Hermione) & the main antagonist (Draco). Plus, it would ruin the surprise (not that it's that much of a surprise)."

Chapter 4

Hours later, Hermione lay asleep in her cot, exhausted of all her tears. Malfoy did not come to wake her when she was not up before him; he did not storm in at noon when she had still not ascended from her room.

She slept fitfully, revisited by nightmares that nearly matched those in Azkaban. She saw her friends slip away from her, innocent people tortured or dead, and Death Eaters laughing maliciously at the chaos and destruction they had caused. In her sleep, she felt constricted and suffocated. She imagined that the air was thick around her, trapping her, and separating her from those she loved.

Several times, Hermione jerked awake in the night and throughout the next day. She would lie there, at first worrying what Malfoy would do to her, than almost daring him to come. Hermione was torn between wanting to escape her pain by sleeping and wanting to escape her dreams by staying awake. Each time, she would grow weary and eventually give into her exhaustion.

Hermione had no idea of the hour when she woke after one particular dream. The memory of it was still fresh in her mind. The dream was nothing spectacular in meaning, just a random evolution of thoughts and memories in her head, the way dreams usually are. But in it, an object had briefly floated into the main scope of the dream, serving as a reminder.

She got off her cot, her tangled and torn uniform falling to the floor. Uncomfortable with being in Malfoy's house naked, she went to her cupboard, where her only other garment, a short dressing gown for when she bathed, was kept.

Going back over to her cot, she lifted up the mattress, revealing the rusty bed frame underneath. There, wrapped around the metal support links, was the one trinket she had saved, and hidden, from her previous life. She unwound the length of leather cord; on the end of it was a man's ring.

The ring was slightly gaudy, but in a way that would have been fashionable centuries ago. It was also too large for any of her fingers, since it was intended for a man, which was the reason it was on a cord to be worn around her neck.

Hermione slipped it over her head and pulled her volumous hair free from it. Instantly, she felt a peace fall on her that she had not felt since before her imprisonment. Her mind relaxed and warmed nostalgically. But her remaining consciousness of her present situation kept her reaction bittersweet. Nevertheless, she found her feet drifting toward her cupboard so she might admire the ring on her in the mirror.

Her hand automatically stroked the ring against her breast. It fell between the open V of her robe, touching her skin comfortingly. A smile nearly graced her lips as memories of sweeter, safer times drifted into her mind.

Her eyes traveled up her neck to her face, making her realize that she had not looked at herself properly in a very long time. She didn't care enough to have her hair as well kept as it once was (if it ever had been properly tamed). She had never been tan, but any healthy glow she might have once had was replaced by a ghostly, gray complexion. She had known that she was not as healthy a weight as she had once been, but the ramifications of Azkaban were even visible in her face.

However the most noticeable, to her at least, was how different her overall expression was. Her eyes, once knowing and eager, were desolate of any emotion but sorrow. Her mouth had always naturally turned down at the corners, in a natural pout. But unlike the concentrative frown she'd once worn when she studied, her lips seemed lax from regular lack of emotivity.

Not wanting to think anymore of her current position, Hermione forced herself to once again turn her thoughts to the ring and the past bliss it brought to mind. But before she could properly refocus herself, the bang of the door to the basement caused her to jump. She heard Malfoy's swift, heavy strides down the stone hallway, and had barely finished closing her robe up to her neck when her door burst open.

"You've been hiding down here long enough, Granger. It's past supper. Can't shrug off your chores every time I make you cry," Malfoy voice drawled. The sound of it made her freeze. She had to collect herself before turning to face him.

"Well, you won't do it again, so what does it matter?" Hermione gave him her coldest, most defiant look, but under her exterior she was terrified.

"Do you mean raping you or just the crying part? Because I think I might have some more goes," a smirk slithered across his face as he took an overbearing step towards her, "but I can't blame you if you start enjoying it."

This time it was Hermione that swung back to slap him, but he caught her arm before she could strike him. "You bastard," she spat. She tried to pull her arm away, but that caused him to hold onto her harder, wrenching her arm painfully.

"Now, now. Proper House elves don't go hitting their masters. Or else they're severely punished," Malfoy's voice was absolutely poisonous.

"You'll never have me again."

"Is that a challenge?" He pulled her close against him. Hermione pounded on his chest with her left fist, trying to free herself. He leered down at her, amused at her attempts, but she was too afraid to look back at his face.

"Get off of me!"

Instead, he yanked her by the arm to follow him. At first she was relieved as he led her up to the first floor, away from her own bed. But when he continued up the stairs to the master bedroom, she panicked and resumed her struggle. This merely impeded Malfoy, as Hermione was still dragged into his room, the door shut and locked behind him.

Malfoy pulled his wand from his pocket, pointing it at her. Hermione stopped breathing.

"Get on the bed"

Hermione swallowed. "No."

"Get on the bed!" This time, his voice echoed strangely in the back of her head as well, giving her no choice but to command him.

Hermione mentally pleaded herself to not do it. But her body was no longer under her control. It walked over, sat on the bed, and pushed itself back to lie in the center. Even though her bewitched body was perfectly still, Hermione certainly felt like she was shaking all over. Not again, she prayed. Please don't let him do this again.

Malfoy climbed on top of her and, tortuously slow, pulled on the tie of her dressing gown. He smirked as it began to fall open, his expression changing to confusion when he noticed the ring.

He sat back on his heels, straddling her, and with a quick tug on the ring, snapped the leather string from her neck. "Now what's this?"

"Give it back." Hermione tried to sit up, but couldn't with the spell still on her. All she could do is watch as he put his hands on her most prized and only possession.

Malfoy turned the ring over in his hands. He knew immediately that it was a wizard-family ring. He had one himself, as was tradition with pure-blood families.

It was not a family crest that he recognized, although he was sure he'd seen it before. The ring was not well cared for, tarnished and scratched. And the stone.... on closer look, what appeared as a ruby at first glance was actually a cheaper mimic of it. He could see evidence of the original being taken off and the new put on, both of which had been poorly done.

Of course, he thought. Then with a sneer, he said aloud "Weasley."

Her expression was proof enough.

"He must have really been a fool for you if he gave away his family ring."

"Just give it back," she whispered. "Please."

"And you seem to be overly sentimental about it. Is it because he was the only one stupid enough to actually want you? Or because you genuinely loved him?" Malfoy sneered once again with the last two words.

Hermione was too shocked to say anything. She could hardly believe this was happening, let alone stand how he mocked her relationship with Ron.

"I can't believe you actually cherish this piece of rubbish. Probably still clinging onto the hope that he'll come back one day.--"

"Just shut your mouth, Malfoy"

"--You do know what it means when someone's reported missing, don't you?--"

"Stop it."

"--Just means they couldn't find any of the pieces."

"Don't say that!" Either Malfoy's spell had weakened or Hermione had thrown it off, because she managed to sit up, and try to snatch the ring away from him.

Malfoy easily held onto it. "Seeing how much this means to you, I think I'll keep it." He got up to walk to his desk, dropped the ring into the drawer, and shut it, all to the disbelief of Hermione, who was still magically stuck to the bed.

Tears had begun to fall down her cheeks. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying with all her might not to break down in front of Malfoy. Now her last piece of Ron, her last piece of hope, had been taken from her.

"It's for your own good, Granger. It's unhealthy to lie to yourself like that." He lifted her chin, almost caringly, only to jerk her head to get her to look at him. "Stop crying like a fool. Don't know why you cared about him anyway."

Hermione's breathing began to shake, thinking off all the reasons she had loved him, wanting to prove him wrong. "You could never understand a real human emotion, Malfoy. You're too heartless."

"I don't need to understand love. All I care about is sex." His other hand found her robe again as he said this. "Now be a good Mudblood and lie back down." His voice had reacquired the echoing suggestion from before, causing her body to relax and fall slowly backward, as he climbed back on top of her.

This, she decided was worse than the first time. Before, she'd been allowed the dignity of fighting back. But now, she couldn't do a thing.

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So yes, Hermione is still in love with her missing/most likely dead, boyfriend, Ron. More on that in coming chapters! ---because although I like a good Dramione FF, I am a R/Hr shipper at heart. (::blocking self from tomatoes poised to be thrown:: "Don't hurt me!")

Review, please! Opinions?