Chapter Seven

Draco couldn't quite believe his luck…

…or his nerve for that matter.

It had been a spur of the moment decision; one moment he had been hoping above anything that the nails would work in undoing the padlocks and the next, he had been sneaking out of the cell and hiding in an alcove.

Moments later the Death Eater, who he had recognized as Davis, had walked straight passed him as though he was a piece of the wall.

Draco was surprised he was alive.

Draco had then catiously begun wandering the endless halls of the prison he had been trapped in for days. He was yet to find anything but derelict cells holding terrified people but he had managed to skulk the halls freely for nearly two hours without coming in contact with anyone.

He didn't know what had summoned him to leave the cell and Hermione. He thought fleetingly to what she might be thinking, what she might think had happened to him but he ignored such thoughts. If he found escape, he would find a means to save her and everyone else trapped within this deathly place.

Draco's feet hit the cold stone silently and quickly, though the rigid texture caused him displeasure. He scowled slightly and continued to move forward, every once in a while catching a glance at the occupants of the cells.

He, Hermione and even Morler seemed to be doing well for themselves compared to most of the other prisoners. He had caught sight of many who seemed to be very close to death, some of which he could almost presume were dead.

A thick lump formed in Draco's throat and he continued on defiantly. The halls seemed to becoming narrower and darker but Draco did not know if this was merely his own illusion due to the way he currently felt.

The only light came from tiny windows in the stone, which displayed the approaching dusk outside. Every few metres small dim oil lamps hung from the ceiling but they gave off very little light. The only affect that they seemed to have was the casting of eerie shadows that caused the hairs on the back of Draco's neck to stand up on end.

Draco slowed his pace as he approached an intersection in the narrow corridor. A single open path ran to the left but to the right stood a rusty grey door that stood closed.

Draco felt his heartbeat quicken for he was not sure what he would do if someone, at that moment, turned that corner or exited through that door towards him. He felt slightly panicked but he was filled with an adrenaline too strong to turn around.

He slowly approached, keen to try the door, suspecting that if it were not an exit it would hold answers of some sort; blueprints of the prison, the Death Eaters' motives…

Reaching the door on silent feet he froze for a moment with his hand outstretched.

It was unlocked.

The rust of the door had completely corroded the lock and the door stood open an inch.

Swallowing thickly, Draco hesitated as new thoughts entered his mind.

What if this was a trap? What if the Death Eaters had anticipated his escape? What if they wanted him to find this room?

But despite these thoughts Draco still outstretched his hand further and pushed the door open. Despite the tarnished hinges, it made no sound.

Before him was a small dingy office. The stone walls were identical to those of the cells nearby except for two items which Draco was not surprised to see: A newspaper clipping displaying an image of Lord Voldemort was tacked beside a window and a large poster of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione was attached to the wall opposite it.

What did surprise Draco, however, was the large red circle that had been drawn around Hermione's head and the large cross that distorted Weasley's face.

To Draco this could mean only one thing: they had plans that involved Hermione, plans that went beyond torturing her for information.

Draco found this unsettled him somewhat.

Turning his attention elsewhere, he took in the large desk that sat in one corner of the room. Not a single inch of the hardwood top could be seen beneath the enormous pile of paper scraps that sat upon it.

Draco looked behind him carefully before shutting the door as far as he could and approaching the pile cautiously.

On the very top sat recent issues of the Daily Prophet, which Draco carefully sat on the desk chair nearby before continuing to rummage.

From what he found at first, they were all articles concerning Hermione and her friends. He came across one clipping in particular showing a familiar picture of Ron Weasley and Hermione sitting below a headline of 'Heroes to Wed?',which was signed by Rita Skeeter. He quickly pushed it to the side to find another except this time it was one concerning himself.

'Heir Chooses Bride'

It was an article he was familiar with. It was the one his father had organized several months previous after his proposal to Astoria. What he could not understand was how it had anything to do with the Death Eaters plans. He pushed it aside to look for another.

"Why do you discard it so quickly? I found it a highly enjoyable read…"

Draco jumped back from the table slightly, an article headed 'Granger's affair' still in his hand as he looked up at the door abruptly.

Nott stood there happily, leaning against the frame with a smirk plastered across his face.

"Here," he said, moving forward, "you might find this one more humorous…"

And with a flick of his wand, a single article came plummeting out of the pile to land contently in front of Draco. He looked down at it and the lump in his throat grew larger.

'Bride Captured and Drowned'

One glance at the image of a beautiful young woman with long dark hair and sparkling eyes told Draco all he needed to know.

Astoria was dead.

"I'm sorry I made her death so inhumane," Nott stated proudly, his smirk growing larger. "You know I never liked her, though."

"What does all this have to do with my being here?" Draco sneered, standing up. "How are articles about my choosing a wife related to my capture, Nott?"

Nott chuckled slightly. "Take a seat Malfoy and I will eventually tell you."

Draco hesitated a moment before taking a seat in the chair opposite the one he had deposited the papers in.

Nott circled the desk, still smirking while he tidied his pile.

"You are here in this office not because you managed to escape the guards on dinner duty but because I wanted you here," Nott clarified. "We would normally not make it so easy for you to escape and we know you and the Mudblood have been trying. We are not dim, Malfoy. Simple exercises such as filing down rusty nails would not escape us. Or allow you to escape for that matter"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "What did you want me here for, Nott?"

Nott considered him a moment. "I wanted you here to bargain with you."

Draco had vaguely expected this since the moment he had sat down so he did not react; he merely met Nott's eyes with a glare and waited for further explanation.

"I will let you free…" Nott started casually, flicking a finger absently over an image of Hermione which illustrated yet another article.

"On what conditions?" Draco asked, his glare narrowing.

"You join us," Nott answered, "after you've coaxed Granger to do the same."

Draco's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. If the situation had not been so serious he would have laughed.

"Why would you want Granger?" he snarled, sitting forward. "She's a Mudblood!"

"Exactly," Nott shrugged with a cold grin. "We need followers and the more we can get the more invincible we'll be. Having a Mudblood by our sides would surely help persuade many in the wizarding world. She also happens to be a genius and Harry Potter's best friend so that could work to our advantage also. Besides, Pureblood and Dirty Blood is not a factor in our cause, Malfoy."

Draco was silent for a moment, scratching absently at his right forearm as images of this past threatened to surface and haunt him.

"What is your cause then?" Draco asked slowly after a moment, still considering Nott through narrowed eyes.

Nott chuckled slightly at that. "I'm not telling you until you agree to my offer, Malfoy."

"What if I don't agree?" Draco asked, sitting back in his chair but never taking his eyes off Nott for a second.

Nott considered the question. "Lifetime imprisonment," he said, "Though, we may make your life a lot shorter than it needs to be…"

Draco said nothing, anticipating something more from Nott.

"We'll also kill Granger, no questioned asked."

Draco stood suddenly at that, not quite understanding his reasoning himself.

"Take me back to my cell, Nott," he demanded, his teeth. "I'm not signing up for anything today."

Nott smirked up at him. "I'm giving you a week, Malfoy," he said lazily. "But the circumstances will not change. If you refuse, Granger is dead."

Draco had never thought that those words would affect him in the way they did at that moment. The lump in his throat, which had slowly disappeared since Nott had entered the office, reformed several times larger and his stomach clenched up.

He glared down at Nott as the Death Eater's smirk widened and a moment later he found his world went completely black, a low buzzing in his ears threatening to drown Nott's next words.

"I think we'll put you in a private cell until you've decided…"

And then Draco's world was blank.


Author Notes: I've had a nightmare of a week - my computer died and I only got it fixed today. I've managed the last few days by going to the library in my lunchbreak and writing a few drabbles but other than that I've been unable to do some decent writing of "When All Seems Dark" and "Blind". But don't worry, the computer is fixed now and I plan to do some serious catching up!!

I've also realised that I haven't really been thanking my reviewers and I'm really sorry about that! I'm forever posting drabbles and I don't feel the need to add a thank you to them but as this is a chaptered fic with returning readers I DO feel the need and am sorry for my habit of NOT.

...SO...

Thank you to every one who has read and reviewed When All Seems Dark (and my other pieces, of course). Every piece of acknowledgement keeps me writing!

Cheers!