Chapter 8:

"Tracey, I would like for you to move across from Harry, if you would please." Lucius sipped on his drink, staring at the woman until she got up from her place next to Harry. She nodded her head shakily before standing up to do as she was told.

His father waited until Tracey adjusted her chair as she stared ahead at Harry with teary eyes. The man was still applying as much pressure to his slashed eye but Draco could see that the swelling had taken over the entire left side of his face. It was bloody painful to look at and quite disgusting as well.

"Now, we're in the final stretch," Lucius rubbed his hands together while his eyes darted between the two. "Before we begin the final round I would like to say a few words, if I may." He gave them both an apologetic grin, sighing heavily to himself. "I know that this evening has been somewhat rather difficult, for all of us really, but it has also been one for the books. I speak not only for myself, but for Severus and his staff and the entire Malfoy family, when I say well played. Both of you. Personally, I'd be happy if either one of you won. Truley."

Draco leaned his head back to rest on the cushion, his grey eyes relaxing as the game came to an end. He just needed to give it a few more minutes before he interfered- that was if he ended up needing to. If Tracey ended up the victor then they would send the woman on her merry way while he carried Hermione up to their room to make sweet, sweet love to her before grabbing Scor so that the three of them could sleep as one happy family on the bed. He had rarely ever let Scor sleep with them but this night...well, he needed to have the comfort of both his son and wife safely tucked away in his arms. There was still a part of him that felt unhinged with the whole ordeal that happened with Hermione earlier and it was as if that momentary panic was still lodged deep in his bones. He never, ever wanted to feel that way again. It had been too painful- both physically and emotionally- and he swore that he would not let it happen again.

"Now it's time for the final round," Lucius' voice snapped him back to the moments at hand. "In all likelihood the game will end with the very first question in this round. We have found that the player who goes first has a, uh, decided advantage. Therefore, we will flip a coin. Severus, if you will please."

The butler walked forward with a glistening silver coin dangling on his fingers. He made sure to show both players each side of the coin before continuing to walk until he was next to Lucius.

"Heads will be for Harry, and tails will be for Tracey," Lucius informed the two of them. "Severus go ahead and flip the coin."

He tossed it in the air, catching as it came sailing back down. He slapped it down onto his wrist and instantly showed Lucius the result before turning to do so to Harry and Tracey.

Lucius' head turned down to stare at his lap. He frowned, sighing heavily without bringing his gaze up. "Heads it is."

From beside him, Draco felt Hermione's hands rest upon his upper thigh as she sent him a quick glance from the corner of her eyes. He could feel his blood starting to pump faster as Lucius' words sank in. He could feel a slow smile spread across his face and he didn't dare fucking hide it. It appeared that his night was going to last a little while longer than he originally thought.

"Harry you're up," Lucius slowly brought his gaze back up to the other individuals, briefly flickering to Draco's. "It's time for the final question." Lucius tilted his head from side to side, stretching out his neck due to the tension that had built at the new turn of events.

"Would you rather end the game, right now, with you and Tracey free to leave. The only problem, however, would be that you both would leave empty handed, that is. But alive." Tracey let out a breath of relief, a beaming smile beginning to form. "Or, with this dueling pistol that has a single round in its chamber," he pulled out an antique gun that had belonged in the family for numerous generations, "eliminate Tracey to claim victory and salvation for yourself."

Tracey leaned forward, swiping away the tears of joy that started to leak from her eyes. "Harry," she whispered. "It's over. We're done! We can go home." She started to laugh, wholehearted chuckles escaping her trembling lips. She momentarily glanced at the gun that Harry was aiming at her before smiling up at him. "Don't you want this to end already? We've been through so much and we watched-"

A gunshot rang out through the air.

Tracey's body jerked backwards in her chair. She grasped at her chest frantically with wide eyes as a dangerous seep of red started to engulf her top.

Lucius started laughing loudly, clapping his hands wildly in the air. Draco and Hermione smiled at each other, joining Lucius by clapping their hands together in celebration of the victor. They all ignored Harry's cries of anguish as Tracey bled out in front of him. He had shot her a few inches above the heart, and they all knew that she would only have seconds left. They each stood up clapping over and over again until Harry tightly wrapped his hands around his ears begging for them to stop.

"Bravo!" Lucius cheered at him. "Job well done! I certainly thought that you were going to walk on out of these doors but you, Harry Potter, have proven me wrong! That doesn't happen very often so for that I congratulate you! Severus, dispose of Tracey's body and bring us something to drink, if you please. I believe a little celebration is in order."

"Father," Draco warned him, watching as the toothy grin of his father slipped from perfection. Eventually it vanished completely and Lucius nodded his head solemnly, not once looking over at his son..

"Er, yes, we are not...Harry," he turned to stare at the man apologetically, frowning at the situation. "I may not have been telling the entire truth moments ago. I hate to do this to you, really I do because you have earned your freedom...but-"

"You're not done here," Draco finished for him, not once blinking his silver eyes as he stared at Harry. He stood up slowly cracking his knuckles as he clenched his fists. "But my Father, Severus, and the staff are."

Harry's confused face scrunched in agony as Lucius exhaled slowly before rising to his feet. Even Severus backed away from the table with his staff following suit. None of them said a word as they all filed out the dining room doors. It wasn't until the door slid shut that Draco rounded on him, watching as Hermione slowly started to stand up from her chair. Her wide eyes were trained on him as he shrugged off his suit jacket, giving her the signature Malfoy smirk.

"Love," he called out to her. "This is what you wanted, remember? He has to pay for what he did to you." She kept her brown gaze on him as she took a hesitant step forward.

"What are you going to do to him?"

He smirked at her, reaching out to grab her hand. "I'm sure we'll think of something together, but I want you to have a front row seat." He led her to the chair at the head of the table where Lucius had been sitting. Using one of his hands he wrapped it across her collar bones, pulling her against the back of the chair while the other was placed on the wooden arm. He leaned down to give her a wet kiss on her cheek before he sent a withering glare in Harry's direction.

He dragged himself away from her, sneering at the man in the chair. "You know," he lazily drawled, "I was rooting for you, Harry since the moment you arrived here. You looked like a hard person to crack so I was just so damn sure that you would be the victor- and look! Here you are, the winner, sitting all alive and...well, I would say pretty but you look like a swarm of bees attacked your face," he gave off a mean laugh. "You should be proud of yourself for making it through the evening, really you should. But you see…" he grimaced, "we have have a bit of a problem here. And it's entirely your fault that you aren't already walking through our doors so don't start getting pissed about the unfairness of the situation. Tonight was all about choices, and you...you sodding bastard, made one crucial mistake. I'll hand it to you though, you fought tooth and nail to win. I mean hell you fucking shot Tracey! I just...," he ran his fingers through his pale locks, sucking his teeth before bringing his stare back to Harry, "can't get over the fact that you put your Goddamn hands on my wife." His eyes hardened onto Harry's trembling form. His fists clenched and unclenched as he fought the desire to just end everything then and there. "You have done something that no other man has ever done before and I will not stand for it. Not. One. Bit," he snarled. "You put your fucking hands on my wife!" He slammed his fists down onto the table in front of Harry, yelling into his ear.

The green eyed man jerked in his chair. "I had just wanted to get out! I didn't harm her-"

Draco held up his hand. "Blah, blahblah, blahblah. All this chit chattin' is gonna get you killed! Well, I mean, either way you're going to be dying tonight but if you shut the hell up I might decide to make it less painful than it already will be."

Harry yelled in frustration, dropping his head onto the table. "P-please! I just wanted to get out! I didn't kill her! I-"

"But you could've," Draco interrupted him in all seriousness. "The second you stepped foot outside of those doors you had every chance to escape. You willingly went to my wife giving her no choice but to try and help you only because she was scared! You had a weapon and you pointed it at her! My wife! You could've chosen to keep walking or hide in some other room, but no- you found her and made sure you could get your hands on her!"

Harry brought his hands up to cover his face as he sobbed into them. His shoulders curled in on himself as his shoulders heaved in panic.

"Pathetic," Draco sneered at him, making his way to the cabinet. "First you point a weapon at a woman, then you shoot another one...did your mother ever teach you manners?" he mocked with his back towards Harry as he looked for the remaining envelopes. "Oh," he turned his head to look at Harry from over his shoulder, "that's right. She killed herself when you were what two? You must've been a real piece of work if your own mother didn't want you."

"Fuck. You!" Harry roared. "You have no right to-"

"I have every right to do whatever the fuck I want," his words sliced through the air as a brutal reminder of who exactly was in charge at the moment. He turned around with the cluster of silver envelopes in his hand. "Now that that's settled," he made his way to sit across from Harry where Tracey had been minutes ago, "you and I are going to finish the rest of the evening here until you die. It's as simple as that. So you need to pick a card," he help out the envelopes for Harry to grasp.

The man scoffed in disbelief, shaking his head back and forth. "I can't do that. I won't keep playing this sick game anymore."

Draco stayed quiet for a few seconds, smirking dangerously at Harry. He leaned forward slowly, bringing his voice down to a whisper. "Wanna bet?"

Apparently Harry could see something that was different from throughout the night on Draco's face. With mild curiosity, Draco watched as Harry visibly paled and sunk into his chair.

"Your father, James Potter lives at 394 Godric's Hollow. Your aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley live at 4 Privet Drive along with your cousin Dudley. You have a godson-"

"What's your point in all of this?" Harry confronted him with narrow eyes.

Draco gave him a devilish grin, cocking his head to the side. "The point is that for every minute that passes that you refuse to do the challenge, I will send my men to kill one of them. I have a list of your closest family and friends so believe me when I say that we can be here all night. Or, unless you aren't a complete heartless bastard, you'll do as I say and pick a card. You'll have thirty seconds to do each task like before, but I know that you can keep going until it's physically impossible for you to continue."

Harry's chest heaved as if he were having a panic attack. His hands were clasped together dangerously tight as fresh tears started to pour down his face. "My family has nothing to do with my choices here tonight."

Draco could only shake his head in disappointment. "But now they do. You control their fates at this very moment. So I'll ask again. Would you rather take a card or let one person on this list die? If you want I can start with your Godson. He's only a couple of years old…" he let his voice fade off as Harry yanked a card from his hands.

He smiled in victory as Harry looked down at it. "Look on the bright side- you already know that one of the cards calls for all of your teeth to be extracted so it's not like it'll be a surprise."

Harry paused his actions, scoffing in disbelief. "Why won't you just shoot me and get this all over with!?"

"You already know why I can't do that." he answered without hesitation. "Open your card Harry. Now."

The man took a deep, shuddering breath. "You can't-"

"Hermione, start the clock," he addressed her without breaking his gaze off of Harry's form. He could hear as she wound up the timer before placing it back on the table- the distinct ticking filling the room like a loud bang ready for detonation.

It was as if now Harry realized the seriousness of the situation and tore the card out of the fancy packaging without any mercy. With wide, fearful eyes he showed Draco what was displayed. It was a simple picture of a nail and hammer, nothing too extraordinary or harmful. Really it was one of the ones that Draco had hoped Harry would get so that they could do more than one round. He needed to make sure that this carried out as long as possible.

"Not bad, Harry. You managed to get one of the least harmful ones so congrats, really. How incredibly lucky." He sneered, pulling out the steel hammer and nails to slide to Harry.

Harry shook his head. "Cut to the point. Wh-what is it that I have to do?"

"You have to hammer a nail into each of your hands," he shrugged. "Like I said, nothing extreme."

"You expect me to-"

"Twenty seconds Harry," Draco cut him off wanting to waste no time. He kept his eyes trained on Harry making sure he didn't try anything foolish with the hammer. He tilted his head to the side, "I would hurry if I were you. I'd rather not have to send my men to-"

Harry screamed in absolute agony as he slammed his palm face up on the table. He had to curve it slightly in order for him to hold the nail without having to use his other hand that was holding the hammer. In a swift movement he pounded it down upon the head of the nail and he shouted out at the contact. His eyes were wide as he absorbed the pain that appeared to radiate throughout his body, bringing his hand up to cradle it towards his body. He was wailing like a lost soul, rocking his body back and forth in his chair. "Oh God! Oh my God!" he chanted over and over to himself.

Draco tisked at him, "You have another nail in front of you, Harry. Now is not the time for you to stop."

Harry's head of wild black hair bobbed in despair. He held up his wounded hand, "How can I do it again? I can't-"

"Oh, I think you can. In fact, I know you can. Especially with five seconds left."

Harry sobbed, forcing his other hand to copy what he had done earlier. As he gripped the hammer with his bloodied hand, his face crumpled in pain as the movement shifted. He let out an earsplitting roar as the second nail lodged itself inside his flesh, a dark red stream of blood leaking down his pale flesh. He stared down in horror at both of his hands with the nails sticking out like Satan's horns. It was gruesome to look at and he knew that Harry had to have been in such tremendous amounts of pain. But that had only been the first card. Draco himself didn't know how many more rounds were bound to take place, nor did he care. He just kept his silver eyes on Harry, absorbing every ounce of pain that the man inflicted on himself.

"I suppose this is the part that i'm supposed to stand up and applaud you like my Father would," he cruelly sneered, "but unlike my Father, I don't give a damn about my hospitality." He shifted his head to the side to smile passionately at Hermione. She actually looked like she was thoroughly enjoying herself with her body relaxed as she watched on. Her dark eyes were set on Harry as well and as he looked closer he could see a small sly smile on her lips. Oh yes, she was very much enjoying this.

"Chop, chop, Harry. Take the next card," he held out the envelopes again for the man to reach for one. "If you're lucky then you'll get something that will hurry up and put you out of your misery...or should I have said unlucky? Either way, take your pick."

Harry tried to move his hands as little as possible but he sucked in the air through his teeth as the nails shifted with the muscles. He slowly pulled out the envelope, studying it with such precision that Draco figured he was trying to decide if this would finally be the card to end it all or just continue to make him suffer. After appearing to have gone through every possibility he held it out for Draco to see.

He had actually openly cringed when he saw what it was. It was going to be horrific to watch but it wasn't as if he was going to turn away. After all, Harry's voice always did grate on his nerves.

But now, well, it wouldn't be a problem any longer.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," he tisked, "I thought you wanted this to get done with- not have to do the worst thing in the fucking deck." His head tilted back as laughter spilled from his mouth, a result of watching Harry's face morph into terror. "You have to swallow an entire cup full of shards made from glass-"

Harry's head dropped onto the table, a pathetic whimper filling the air that made Draco want to slap the man for being so weak. So disgustingly weak. He got up from the table to fetch the pre-prepared glass that was stowed in the cabinet. It wasn't anything huge- just a small whiskey glass that anyone would use. But inside of it was chunks of glass that had been poorly crushed up for the guest that happened to possibly get the card. The shards glistened dangerously when the light reflected off of its surface as he slid the cup across the table.

"Make sure you grind it down before you swallow. I'm sure it would be beyond painful for you to bleed out from the inside out. But, as always, it's solely up to you," he grinned at the green eyed man. "Bon Appetit."

Harry's wounded hands slowly dragged the glass towards him, his eyes downcast in humiliation. His mouth opened and closed as if he were debating whether or not to say something. He sighed, shifting his emerald orbitals to Hermione. "I'm-"

"Don't say one damn thing to her," he snapped, his fingers flexed in anticipation.

Harry shook his head in desperation, "No, please, it's...I just want to apologize. Please…" he kept his gaze on Hermione.

Draco's eyes narrowed. What was this guy playing at? Whatever it was he wasn't going to have any of it, not at all.

"As if I would-" He stopped as he felt Hermione's arm softly grasp ahold of his forearm. She appeared apprehensive towards Harry, but she slowly nodded her head for him to continue. He immediately settled back down but he stayed verbally ready to intervene in case Harry went overboard.

Harry licked at his dry lips before opening his mouth to speak. "I...wish tonight never happened. I know that it's in the past but...everything still happened and…" he sighed heavily about to run his fingers through his hair but paused halfway as he caught sight of the metal protruding from the palms. "I'm sorry for what I did earlier. I should've never done what I did...but you must understand that I was trying to get out. For fuck's sake I watched as someone got whipped to death! Two people got shot before my very eyes! An old man was stabbed," he choked out. "I just wanted to get out! I just...needed to leave. And I hope you forgive me for that."

Draco watched Hermione closely as none of Harry's words fazed her. She stayed stoic, keeping her unforgiving eyes glued on Harry. He scoffed, "As admirable as that was, I still couldn't care less about your pathetic arse. Hermione, love, start the timer."

Harry quickly grabbed ahold a of one of the thicker pieces. "There's no need to do that," he whispered before taking the shard and slicing it across his wrist. He had done the movement uncharacteristically fast and Draco had to grin in astonishment. It truly did take a broken person to effectively do something as bold as Harry had just done without pausing or hesitating even once.

Harry looked down in panic at his wrist that was gushing heavily, pooling across the tabletop in what looked like a giant puddle that was growing by each millisecond that passed. He brought up his other hand to try to grip the wound but it wouldn't do any good- all three of them knew it. It would take a trained doctor to manage to successfully sew up a slash that deep.

Draco leaned forward, placing his palms flat on the table. He pushed the glass even closer to Harry's paling body. "Do it again, to the other one," he nodded his head towards Harry's uninjured wrist. "You'll bleed out faster."

Harry gave off a light chuckle, sounding more airy due to his conscience fading at the speed of light. "B-but is-isn't this wh-at you want? You w-want to s-see me in pain, d-don't you?"

"But you're not in pain, are you Harry?" he tilted his head to the side as Harry's head lunged back on the cushion of the chair. "This is probably the best that you've felt in a long time, right?" He stood up from the chair, rounding the table to wrap his arms around Hermione. She melted into his touch, turning her head to the side to press into his arm. She reached up to pull his head down towards hers, planting a searing kiss on his lips.

"I gave you what you wanted," he breathed against her lips as they attacked each other with desperation. "You wanted to see this, right, love?"

She hummed into his mouth before a gasping noise from Harry caused both of their heads to turn back to the dying man only a few feet away from them.

"The….m-money...my dad needs...it," he tried to say but at this point he was fading faster than he was bleeding. It would be less than a minute at this rate.

But Draco wasn't as cruel as Harry probably intended he was. Harry had technically won and what else were they going to do with the three hundred grand that they kept aside for each year? He didn't want to keep it and it wasn't as if they needed it...hell, he had cars that were valued nearly three times that amount.

He sighed, "Yes, we'll delivery the money to your father first thing in the morning. My Father is probably upstairs already making the phone calls to get him his new set of lungs. Cystic fibrosis is a deadly disease but a new set of lungs should give him at least another twenty years to go." Harry's head dropped forward, his black hair hanging in front of his eyes that were slowly starting to close. "You played well, Harry," he drawled out, "Of course you liked to play the hero but you need to remember that when money is involved there are no such things as friends. Those people were out to cut your throat and you kept trying to keep everyone together. It was adorable, especially with that psychopath Pansy- the poor thing. If you had read her file today would've been nothing compared to what she's been through. But it's not like any of it matters anymore…not even you." Harry's eyes were starting to dilate and soon he was staring off into space as if in a trance. Together he and Hermione stayed watching him for several long seconds until they heard the very distinct puff of his last breath leave his lips. Harry's body slacked in the chair and Draco sneered at the corpse.

Finally.

He grabbed a hold of Hermione's hands as he lifted her from the chair. She wrapped both of her arms around his neck, boosting herself up to kiss him across his neck and face. She was in such a...good mood that Draco was quick to take advantage of the situation by grabbing her legs to secure them around his waist.

"That wasn't so bad, right?" he whispered into her neck as he licked his way down the opening of her blouse.

Her fingers raked through his pale locks as she arched into him. "Are you kidding me?" she gently laughed in his arms. "That was one of the most enticing," she grinded herself against him, "moments I've ever seen. I can't believe he actually tried to apologize."

He rested his forehead against hers, laughing at her words. "I know. But I was so sure that he wasn't going to shoot Tracey. I mean, I swear, it was like they were married."

She pulled back from him, her elegant brows scrunch in amusement. "So if that had been us, you would've let me shoot you?"

His grip tightened on her, pulling her flesh against him. In truth, he would have put his life down on the line before she would ever get the chance to do so for him. She knew that already though, he was sure of it. It was his job to protect her not the other way around.

He playfully nipped at her lips, "I guess the only way to find out would be if we were ever in a situation like that and we both know that we never will be, love."

"I guess so," she shot a quick glance at Harry's deceased body before smothering him again with her sweet kisses.

"Does this mean you'll join us for the entire dinner next year?"

Her head tilted back to give him more access to her throat. "Oh yes," she groaned into the air. She sat back up against him, using both of her hands to grip the sides of his face. "And the next year," she pecked his lips, "and the next," another kiss, "and the next until I get sick of it."

He soared at her words, already trying to imagine the torturous activities that they would be holding next year. He could feel his blood starting to rush in more than one direction and all he could do was bury himself in her hold. Despite everything that had happened, everything he had done, she was still here with him wanting to be part of it. He desperately needed to get the two of them to their bedroom so that he could ravish her from head to toe to show her his love that was demanding attention.

Without breaking away from her kisses, he held onto her as he made his way to the door. As he did, he barely sent the two guards a glance as he commanded them to get rid of the body.

The last thing that filled the air was Hermione's gentle laughter as he took to the hallway that led to their side of the house- not once looking back towards the dining room or even thinking where Harry's body was going to be taken.

As always, he just simply didn't give a damn about those nobodies that where nothing but filth that belonged on the bottom of his shoe...or in this case, at the bottom of a body bag. He had more important matters at hand like pleasing his wife and crossing his fingers for the possibility of his second born.

Because after all, family meant the most to the Malfoy's and nothing would ever tear them apart- especially not one night out of the year that they watched the life fade from their guests eyes.

xxxxx

Completed! (For now at least, dun, dun, DUN!)

Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did.