"I'm begging you to let us go. We're not harming anyone and I haven't been involved with the war in years! I'm just trying to keep my daughter safe. Please!" Draco pleaded desperately as he struggled against his bonds.

Ellie stopped throwing her fit as stood helplessly next to her Father, still clinging onto her doll. She was confused with the situation in front of her, too young to understand what was happening.

"Daddy, why are you tied up? Are you playing with this lady?"

"No, sweetheart. This lady is very bad. Whatever you do, don't do anything she says. Don't go anywhere with her."

"Malfoy, stop. You know that there are hit wizards swarming the country and killing suspected death eaters without question."

"I know that. Do you think I'm living here on some kind of stupid muggle vacation? Why else do you think we've been hiding here?" spat Draco as if she were an idiot.

"You're a known death eater, high up on our radar, and you've been missing for years." Hermione broke the situation down for him. "Trust me, another auror would be happy to bring you in dead or alive. You're lucky I'm here and not one of them as I prefer to bring people in alive. Believe me, I'm in the minority these days. If you comply with me, I can keep you safe. Understand that you don't have a choice in his. Regardless of what you say or do, you're coming with me so there's no use in begging."

Draco sat back onto his heels, trying to balance himself up with the restraints behind his back. "Granger, Listen to me. If you take me in, not only will they take my daughter away, but we'll surely be killed."

"The Ministry isn't going to kill your daughter."

"No, but they will!" He desperately interrupted. "The other death eaters will kill her and they will kill me; to punish me for what I've done. I abandoned the war when she was born and the penalty for abandonment is death. They'll find us both, and they'll kill us. You won't be able to protect us."

"The death eaters won't be able to get past ministry security," she tried to assure him he was just speaking out of fear.

"As if they haven't gotten past the Ministry before, on several occasions in fact. Like you said, I'm high up on the list. That's true and only serves to make me a priority once they discover us. They're angry at me and they'll hurt my daughter to get back at me and then they'll kill us when they're through with revenge. Do you think a deatheater is going to take in a five year old? Adopt her and take care of her in the safety and compassion of their home? No, they're going to view her as a burden and they'll dispose of her." All the while he was talking, pleading, and begging with Hermione, he was actually stalling her as he struggled to reach his wrist back and wiggle Astoria's wand out from his knee-high sock. He kept it hidden there, under his pant legs for an emergency such as this. Luckily, Hermione didn't seem to be noticing his true objective and he'd been able to keep her talking and listening. Now that he'd managed to sit up on his knees, his hands were fully concealed and he was making progress.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt the little girl."

"She's only five, she needs me in her life. I'm her father. Are you really going to separate us?"

"I'm five and a half…" muttered Ellie objectively as she swung back and forth nervously, twirling her skirt; her doll dangling limp in her arms.

"I don't have a choice-"

"Of course you do! You can turn your back and let us go. I won't come after you so long as you don't come after us. We can act like we never ran into each other to be begin with. No one has to know." Draco's wrists were raw, but he finally felt his wand slip out into his hand.

"I know you don't trust me, but you have to realize that I don't trust you either. How am I supposed to know that this is even your daughter? She could be a cover up you're using divert suspicion. For all I know you're just hiding behind her and using her as a defense. She could be kidnapped from a family who is missing her terribly and looking for her still!"

"She's not." Draco growled defensively. "She looks just like me, you idiot. Of course she's my daughter. I didn't steal her, I raised her."

"Even so. I have to take you with me back to the Ministry." Hermione began to approach him but before she could take hold of either them, Draco had whispered Evanesco and the bindings immediately disappeared from his wrist.

As quickly as he could manage, his stood up and scooped his daughter into his arms with his wand pointed directly at Hermione.

Hermione had her wand out just as quickly. It was reflex at this point. "Draco…think about this. I don't want to have to hurt you."

"You're not going to."

Stupefy!

Hermione had hesitated to cast her spell, not wanting to accidently hit the young girl toted in Draco's arms. None of her death eater conflicts had ever involved children before this, she choked.

Her immobile body hit the floor with a loud bang; helpless and now at the mercy of Draco Malfoy.
/

Nothing was coming into focus as Hermione struggled to open her eyes through the haze. Her head felt heavy as if she'd hit it on her way down to the floor earlier.

Where am I?

The room was too dark for her to make anything out as she struggled to make out her surroundings.

Where's my wand?

Frantically, she felt for her wand. It was then she noticed her hands were still free, which surprised her. She had expected to wake up in bondage. Really, she hadn't expected to wake up at all. The fact that she was alive right now was also surprise to her. She would have pegged Draco as the type to strike and kill when threatened; especially with a child in the mix.

Hermione patted herself down and felt that everything was gone; her wand, her ID, her money, and even her ring. Defenseless, but alive; Hermione leaned back against the wall and waited for what felt like hours in the darkness until a door opened and let in the light.

Draco walked in with his wand out and a small bag in his hand. He threw it down at her feet.

"There's a sandwich in there for you. You must be hungry by now."

Hermione didn't touch the bag. She didn't trust him and she wouldn't trust anything he gave her either. Just because he hadn't killed her yet, didn't mean he wasn't going to.

"I'm assuming you weren't working with anyone or they'd be here already? You've been out for over a day and no one has shown up."

Hermione didn't answer him. Let him have his doubts, she wasn't going to help put his mind at ease.

"I'm not going to kill you, so you can stop glaring at me like that."

Hermione looked at him as if to say 'yeah, right' and kept glaring.

"I'm not doing anything wrong here." Draco justified and began to explain himself now that he had her complete attention. "I'm barely using magic even! Not just because I don't want to be detected, but because I don't need Ellie getting used to it. I don't want her to trust another witch or wizard if she were to meet them. I thought she would have been terrified of you, seeing you use magic to bind me, but surprisingly she wasn't. That little girl is too brave for her own good."

Hermione didn't know why he was telling her any of this. She imagined not having anyone to talk to on a regular basis for years other than a five year old could make you socially awkward, and desperate for conversation.

"How long are you keeping me here?"

"Until all of this blows over."

"The war you mean?"

"Yes. Then you vouch for me to the Ministry that I kept here under reasonable circumstances without hurting you. They'll be impressed enough with the fact that I didn't kill you alone that they may even pardon me of my charges. I need a chance for Ellie to have a safe life. Even if the war ends, I can't guarantee that for her without leverage. That's where you'll come in."

"That's a stupid plan," shot down Hermione without empathy.

"Well, it's what I've got so I'm giving it a shot," sneered Draco indignantly.

"Where did you put my stuff?' She demanded to know. "She didn't care about his problems, she cared about getting free.

"Don't worry about it. You won't be needing any of it."

"Can I have some light in here at least?"

"Of course." Draco walked over and switched on a light. Hermione was able to see that she was actually in a decent looking bedroom. Decent for the fact that there was a bed, a small side table, and door that looked as if it led to a bathroom. It was worn down but a hell of a lot better than a prison.

"I'm not as terrible as you think, you know."

"We'll see about that."

"Also, you should know that the sandwich isn't poisoned. Ellie made them. You'll figure that out when you get hungry enough."

Draco left her there alone. She heard him bind the door close with magic and knew she wasn't going to get out of this easily. There were no windows in the room, and no sharp or blunt objects anywhere she could see.

Hermione sat down on the rickety bed and tried to think of a way out of her current situation.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N: Sooooo, I'm not giving up on this story. I have a solid plot line laid our for it so I shouldn't really get writer's block on it either. I am, however, super obsessed with writing Picking Up The Pieces and I just finished Bridges. This story has taken a back burner to that Plus I have work and school. So updates may be slow on this story but it will continuously be updated so never fear! As for myself, I only read completed stories because my biggest fear is getting attached to a story that never gets finished! You WIP readers are super brave in my book. I love and appreciate you all! If you haven't checked out Bridges/Picking Up The Pieces yet you should totally do so. If you're needing a bit of completed Dramione I do have a couple finished stories. Torn and Prohibite Behvaior/ThePossibility (Work as a set). I also have a series of ficlets available to be read called Flashes of Dramione and (the more creatively titled) More Flashes of Dramione! If you're a writer you can check out my latest writer's challenge under my profile.

Thank you so much for your reviews and feedback. On a final note: although I have a plot line establish, I am open to suggestions for this story so gimmie your ideas of Dramione interactions you'd like to see :D