AN: Well, after dusting off a few of the cobwebs...here is another chapter. Hope everyone enjoys it, and I cannot wait to hear/read your feedback.
Draco tightened his grip on Hermione's arm as they hurried down the crowded hallway, other Death Eaters scowling and curling their lips up at her as Draco dragged her through the passage. She ignored them all, secure in the thought that if it came down to it, Draco would be able to defend her and wave it off as ensuring her safety as a huge piece of the war puzzle. That was what he always blamed it on. She was essential, so she needed to be kept safe, be watched at all times, kept in the dungeon for minimal amounts of time. She had a captive life of luxury.
"In here." Draco jerked her quickly to the right, kicking open a door and shoving her inside. He followed, using his foot to nudge the door shut. Nott rose to his feet from his place at the desk, hands folding behind his back. He gestured towards the bathroom door, which was cracked. Draco released Hermione and gave her a gentle shove in the direction of the open door. Hermione gave him an uncertain glance but crossed the room regardless, slipping into the bathroom.
"Hermione!" The brunette was enveloped into a teary, crushing hug that she knew only Weasley's could properly deal out. Hermione couldn't help the wail that fell from her mouth as she realized it was Ginny, and both women collapsed into each other on the floor. "I was so scared I would never see you again! I was so scared!"
"I know, I know." Hermione was clinging to Ginny almost as much as the redhead was holding on to her, both of them drawing what strength they needed from the other. "How did you get here?"
"It was so stupid." Ginny drew back, wiping at her face as she sniffled. "I had gone with Harry and Ron to try and track down your disappearance point, and we got ambushed. Only thing was, they didn't seem interested in trying to take either Ron or Harry. At one point Ron even threw his wand down and begged them to take him, but all they wanted was me. It was the first time I had ever seen Harry use the Killing Curse, and he was so angry that they wouldn't take him. He wanted to be brought here, he was willing to come here and die for me."
"But they took you out of the dungeons?" Hermione asked, holding Ginny's hands in her own.
"Yes." The redhead nodded. "I have to stay here, with Nott, but they told me I could see you if I agreed so I had no choice."
"I know. It'll be better, I promise." Hermione brushed Ginny's hair from her face, cupping the younger woman's cheek. "You want to be up here, I swear. Just keep your head down and do what he asks of you." Hermione's thumb brushed gently over the bruise under Ginny's eye. "You won't get any more of that. He'll see to it. They get protective of their belongings."
"But I'm not a belonging, I'm not a piece of property." Ginny hissed sharply, shaking her head. Hermione sighed and pulled her friend into a tight embrace, smoothing down the red hair in an attempt to calm Ginny.
"You want to be their property, Ginny. To belong to one is better than to belong to all of them."
"Stop staring at me." Hermione mumbled, one arm tucked underneath her body as she snuggled deeper into the pillows that surrounded her. "You're creepy when you stare."
"You like me being creepy." A hoarse whisper slid over her shoulder, a pale hand caressing her bare waist as she rolled onto her back.
"I like you being creepy outside of our private time." She arched her back off the soft mattress into a firm body, her fingers twisting into the crisp fabric of a finely pressed dress shirt. "Draco, you know the rules." She pointedly glared down at his still clothed form. He sighed and her face fell. "Again?"
"He's not exactly the most lenient boss in the world, Hermione." Draco left a trail of tender kisses up the side of her throat, eliciting a moan from deep within her. "I wouldn't go if I didn't have to."
"I know." She kissed the side of his face, rubbing her nose against his skin and inhaling the pine scented aftershave he was fond of. "But you should go."
"Tell Potter he needs to clear out the western safe houses." Draco said suddenly, leaving a kiss on her cheek. "I'm going to find a way to end this, I swear."
"What?" Hermione sat up quickly, the sheet falling from her naked body as Draco disappeared with a smirk and a soft pop.
"Do you remember the last time we saw each other, before the Battle?"
"We agreed not to talk about things like this."
"I know, but do you remember?"
"You're pushing your luck."
"Answer me."
"Of course I bloody damn well remember, woman." He scowled and turned onto his side, withdrawing his arm from underneath her and taking back his own body heat. He let out a soft sigh and she curled up tight behind him, one hand snaking over the dip at his waist so her palm could flatten against the bottom of his right ribcage.
"I had never seen you look so angry."
"I had never been that angry before." He admitted, letting her inch her hand inch up under his arms until her palm covered the spot over his heart.
"All because I said I might be in love with you?"
"You were a silly schoolgirl."
"And you were a pretentious prat, still are." She smiled against his bare back, inhaling the deep scent of pine and midnight.
"Hermione." One of his hands, thin and veined and shaking, took up her small one and brought it to his mouth. He nipped lightly at the backs of her knuckles, trying to remember how the rest of her flesh tasted.
"Draco."
"Go to sleep." He dropped her hand and rolled further away, ignoring the defeated exhale against his shoulder blades.
"Did you enjoy seeing Hermione?" Theodore felt like he was twelve years old again as he spoke to the diminutive redhead across the bedroom. She shuffled her feet on the floor and inched closer to the giant four poster bed.
"I did." She placed a tentative hand on the plush comforter that covered the expanse of the mattress and her heart leapt to her throat. Ginny pulled her hand back to her side, cradling it as if she had been burned.
"You do know I swore I wouldn't hurt you?"
"I know." She licked her lips and shifted her weight nervously.
"I promise you I won't. I want to explain some things to you before we go to bed." He stood from the chair at his desk, gesturing to the fireplace tucked in the corner. She looked at the high backed armchair and then at the blanket he was holding out towards her. "Please, come sit down." He was speaking with such a soft voice that she could barely control her feet as she began to move closer to him.
"Why are you and…and Malfoy different?" Ginny let the question leave her lips as the blanket was draped around her shoulders. Her hair hung in damp strands around her face, hints of jasmine and vanilla assaulting her nose whenever she inhaled. Theodore fell into the chair beside her, one hand waving over a glass tumbler until it filled with a dark liquid. He took a thick swallow and pursed his lips.
"We are not loyal to our cause. Or what our cause is supposed to be." Theodore swirled the glass and watched the liquid settle. "Draco has patiently waited and bided his time to get to where he is. It has taken many small steps, and several unfortunate incidents, for us to get this far."
"You mean the killings?" Ginny asked hotly. She had been one of the first people to find Lavender's mangled body in the woods, and she had been the one who volunteered to inform the girl's parents. "The murders and the massacres and the-"
"Yes." Theodore cut across her swiftly, tossing back the rest of the liquid with a grimace. "Every one of them. But now he sits in a position that would enable us to end the entire war."
"Second in command?" Ginny snorted. "It would be more likely that he would keep the war going."
"You know nothing about the man."
"He's just like his father." She spat nastily, her boldness and temper returning with an enflamed passion. "Worthless and spineless and weak, and when he gets the power he wants he'll turn on all of you."
"He loves her, you know." Theodore stared deeply into the fire, almost as if he hadn't heard a single word Ginny had said.
"Oh, bullshit." She almost flinched when he whipped his head in her direction. Eyes as dark as the liquid he had been drinking burned paths through her own eyes into the back of her mind, almost as if he was trying to project something into her brain.
And suddenly, with a gasp, Ginny understood how Hermione was alive.
To belong to one of them is better than to belong to all of them.
AN: Please leave a review...fair winds and following seas to all.