Chapter 7

Refuge

When she felt her feet hit the hard stone walkway she sighed to herself and hugged her daughter tighter. She was already having second thoughts about the place she'd chosen to go but those thoughts were quickly swept away by more of her, long forgotten, memories.

The darkness swept over her body as she pulled away from his lips. Her lips tingled as his feeling lingered. Reaching one hand up, she pressed two fingers against her lips and stared at him through the darkness, only seeing the shimmer of his grey eyes.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" Her voice was nothing more than a mere whisper as she spoke. She wasn't sure if it was shock or some other emotion flowing within her at that moment, but whatever it was gave her an unsettling feeing in her stomach.

He blinked several times, not really sure why he'd just kissed her, the one person in the world that made him feel inferior. Clearing his throat he brushed away some of the hair which had been sticking to his forehead and broke the temporary silence with his words. "Granger… Hermione, you know as well as I do that there's no chance we could live in here once hypothermia sets in. Do you really want to die here, with someone like me?"

She didn't answer straight away rather it was from the shock of hearing her name cross his lips or from the reality he'd just thrown in her face. Yes, they could both die in that cave and there was nothing they could do to help it. She didn't want to die there, but she wasn't so sure he was what made her want to live. Under normal circumstances she would probably have already killed either him or herself out of pure loathing. But these weren't normal circumstances; no he had just changed everything. He'd changed her view on him with one simple kiss; one she knew was out of boredom, fear, or confusion, possibly a mixture of all three.

"Mal—Draco, I don't want to die here." She shivered from a sudden and unexpected eruption of chills.

Moving closer to her, yet again, he leaned in and brushed her lips with his as he spoke, "Then let me show you how to live."

Without a second's warning, she did something she would've never been capable of doing, in her mind, she threw herself into him, crushing his lips with hers in a fit of passion. Snaking his arms around her shivering body, he pulled her closer to him as he kissed her, his tongue licking fiercely against her lips, begging for something more. Hermione parted her lips and fought her tongue against his, fearing the unknown, yet welcoming it with open arms.

Before she had the time to think about her actions, she felt the cold roughness of the stones on her bare back. She didn't know where her clothes had gone or how they had left her body but she didn't want to think about it. All she felt was a fire inside her, one she knew had never been there before, one he was causing. She felt the softness in his touch as his hands slid down her sides, and the tingling of her skin every where he touched her. She didn't want to die alone, she didn't want to die feeling useless and unloved, and knew he didn't want any of those things either, even if he wasn't willing to admit that to her.

Wrapping her arms around him, at his sides, she dug her fingernails into his skin and pulled him down to her. Kissing him roughly and grinding her hips into his she breathed, "Show me how to live, Draco, please."

With one swift movement, he slid himself deep into her, filling her with a pleasure she'd never known. Pausing in his movement he nibbled on her earlobe and whispered in a deep husky voice, "Don't beg for something you know I want to give you."

Hermione shook herself out of her memories, not wanting to dwell on things she'd chosen to leave in the past. Looking down into Julie's tear stained face, she moved the little girl from her right hip to her left and wiped away a few of her tears. She knew Julie wouldn't understand what had happened with Ron, not for many years to come, if ever, but one day, maybe one day; she would see what Hermione had done what she did. She only hoped her daughter wouldn't hate her for it. There are some things in life children don't understand, regardless of their age.

Taking her first step, she set off down the long cobblestone walkway. The heels of her shoes clicked loudly with every step, she knew someone would have heard the sound, and only hoped she wasn't as unwelcome as she felt. As she neared the large house she stopped a few yards short of the large wooden door and simply stared at the rough stone exterior walls. No house she'd ever seen appeared as unwelcoming as this one did. The walls were made of large pieces of stone with beveled glass windows which had large iron grates over them. Even the serpent statues with their emerald eyes seemed to hate her. Everything about her surroundings gave her a heaviness in the pit of her stomach. Even though she knew dark was still a few hours off, the thick foliage around the house gave the illusion of midnight, blocking out all of the sun's rays, possibly adding to the eeriness of the house.

Taking in a deep breath she smiled down at her daughter and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I love you Julie." She whispered into the little girl's ear.

Julie stiffened against her. Her voice seemed somehow foreign to her mother as she said, "I know, mummy."

Even though Hermione knew her daughter was confused and upset, the way in which she responded cut her to the core. Julie was the one thing she had left in the world. Never had she dreamt of hurting the child, but realized only too quickly, that is what she'd succeeded in doing.

Bringing herself out of her stupor, she directed her attention back to the large wooden door and licked her lips as she stepped up onto the landing. She reached out one shaking hand and lifted the serpent's head knocker. Banging the knocker twice, she dropped it as if it had burned her and let her arm fall to her side, waiting.

Only a few seconds later the door creaked open and the man, she'd so long ago tried to forget, stepped out in the middle of the doorway. She simply stared at him as he stared at her, not knowing what to say.

He pursed his lips and ran one hand through his white blond hair as he continued to stare at her. Apparently he hadn't expected her to be on the other side of his door. He was in just as much shock as she was.

Seconds ticked by, seconds which seemed like years, to Hermione, before he finally spoke. "Granger…" He gave a dry kind of laugh, "Or should I say Weasley… What brings you to my door?"

Hermione's eyes bounced off the stone walls as she tried to look anywhere but into his silvery eyes. Shifting her weight uncomfortable she managed to find her voice but it was nothing more than whisper when she answered, "I need your help."

He cocked one eyebrow at her but seemed oblivious to her statement when he next spoke. "And you've a child. Why are you and your child at my home?"

Again she opened her mouth, swallowing first, and said, "Malfoy, I need your help." This time her words got through to him.

"You need my help?" He leaned his right shoulder against the frame of the door and crossed his arms over his chest. Looking her over then finally looking at Julie's face his eyes seemed to soften, if only the slightest bit, "Why do you need my help? Don't you have a husband for that? As I seem to remember, once we were… relieved… of each other's company, you went off and married the Weasel."

Hermione dropped her head to her right, away from him, and felt her eyes begin to burn with more tears. 'He's not going to help me.' She thought.

Seeming to sense her emotion and seeing the state she and her daughter were in, Draco leaned out the doorway and gestured with one hand into the house, "Alright then, in with you. We'll go and talk about just why it is you need my help."

Hermione, not wanting to spend what was left of the day standing outside Malfoy Manor, reluctantly stepped in the door, past Draco. Looking down the long entranceway she realized just how large the house was. She knew the Malfoy family was wealthy but never dreamed they were that wealthy. Every where she looked there were silver sculptures, mostly serpents, and tapestries as far as the eye could see. The floor was polished cherry wood, newly polished, and every room she could see had lavish décor and carpeting. The beauty of the house truly had her breathless.

The rough slamming of the door brought her back to reality, and the reason she was there. But before she had a chance to speak she heard his voice, rather loudly, beside her. "Tilly!"

In a matter of a second a small house elf appeared right in front of Hermione and bowed very low. "Tilly is here, Master Draco, what does Tilly need to be doing, sir?"

"Tilly," Draco said closing the few feet between him and Hermione, to stand beside her, "if Mrs. Weasley would like, I want you to take her daughter into one of the guest rooms so she may get some sleep."

Tilly reached out one of her skinny arms, up towered Hermione and croaked, "May Tilly, Missus?"

Hermione thought only for a moment and decided it was probably best if Julie went with the house elf, she was certain the little girl was worn out from crying and not getting her nap out. Kissing Julie on the forehead she said, "Darling, will you please go with Tilly so I may talk with Mr. Malfoy?"

Julie frowned and hugged her mother tightly shaking her head. "I don't want to."

Hermione's face hardened slightly. "Julie," she said as she sat the little girl to her feet on the floor, "it is very important that I talk with Mr. Malfoy, and you need to go and have your nap anyway."

Julie sighed and took Tilly's bony hand. "Alright mummy but you know where I'm going, okay?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes darling, I know where you're going."

With that Tilly tugged on Julie's hand and the two began walking side by side down the hallway toward a stair case at the opposite end. Hermione almost laughed as she watched the house elf lead her daughter away from her because Julie was taller than she was. It was rather comical seeing a four year old who was bigger in height than a house elf, though it was hardly the time for laughter.

Once Tilly and Julie were out of sight Draco turned to Hermione. "What, may I ask, is it that you need from me?" The muscles in his jaws quivered as he stared into Hermione's brown eyes.

She dropped her gaze to the polished wood at her feet. "I've left Ron."

He clicked his tongue against his teeth and nodded for her to continue, obviously trying to hide the outburst of laughter he was feeling. He knew they would never work out, not after what had happened between Hermione and him in that cave.

She drew in a long deep breath, "I know what you're thinking…"

"And how do you know what's going on inside my head?" He snapped.

She couldn't respond. Honestly, she had no idea what he was thinking, but she was sure it was something negative about Ron, and her as well, probably. "Please don't."

Taking a few steps toward her, to which she responded with backing away, he lowered his face so he was looking into her eyes, "Don't what, Hermione? Don't tell you I knew you two would never last? Don't tell you I think you're a fool for marrying him in the first place? Don't tell you how much I wish I'd died in that cave to save myself the pain of seeing you here, now, in my house, because you've had a fight with him? Tell me what not to do and I'll try my best not to do it." His tone grew louder as he spoke to her, too loud for her liking.

Backing away further she felt her tears finally spill out of her eyes and stream down her cheeks, staining them red as they fell. "Yes, that, that's what I didn't want you to do. If you don't want me here, I will leave, just say the words."

Immediately feeling regret for his words he stood to his full height and placed on hand over his eyes, massaging them with his fingers, stopping to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Just tell me why you've come here. After almost five years, what is it that I could possibly give you?"

Wiping her tears away quickly she looked up into his grey eyes. "I need somewhere to stay, some where safe, where Ron can't find me… or Julie… Even if it's for only a little while."

"And you thought you could come here for sanctuary?" He hissed, "After leaving me the first time, you thought you'd give it another go? Well, I've got news for you, Hermione; I'm not someone you can run to every time things in your life get bad. I'm not a toy, I'm a man."

Her heels clicked on the wooden floor as she approached him. Stopping just a few inches short of where he stood she looked directly up into his face and said, "I didn't leave you, Draco. There was nothing between us. What happened in that cave happened out of sheer fear. I needed comfort just as you did. Don't try to tell me you thought there was some other reason for it, because I certainly do not think you felt anything for me."

He lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, "How do you know what I felt?"

A/N: Alright, heres the nect installment. I do hope you all like it, let me know what you think ;) Sway