Labyrinth of Life
Chapter 10: Tainted
By coeurnoir
The meeting had been going on for hours and was getting nowhere. The students had been missing for a day now, it was almost midnight and the teachers needed to get back to the school soon. The members were getting progressively more argumentative and it was giving Dumbledore a headache. He sighed and rubbed his aching temples before calling for silence. The chatter slowly died down, not everybody having heard his quiet command.
The present members had spent hours that evening debating every possible aspect of the heads' disappearance including Mundungus' suggestion that they had obviously eloped with each other and had messed up the rooms in their excitement. To which Dumbledore asked which 17 year old in their right mind would leave their wand at school?
"The students have been missing since either last night or early this morning. We have precious little time to get them back. We have definite intelligence that they are being held at the Malfoy Manor, we have also received intelligence that Voldemort plans on interrogating the two about matters concerning this order. While Lucius couldn't break the mind blocks I have placed around Hermione's mind, I somehow doubt that Voldemort will have that same trouble."
Gasps were heard around the chamber, along with murmurs of confusion. Why would Lucius Malfoy hold his son hostage, and to question him about the order?
"For those of us that don't know, Draco was forced into receiving his dark mark not long ago. Just before school started in fact and he has rejected it, much to his father's disgust. Unfortunately the death eaters know so we cannot use him as a double agent. It is my plan to offer him protection after he has been recovered.
Voldemort has been invited to question the students at the manor tomorrow, hence the shortness of time. My plan is to get them out before he arrives. Severus?"
As usual, Severus appeared out of the shadows of the room and came forward to address the assembled members. He had provided Dumbledore with the information after attending a meeting that evening at Voldemort's headquarters.
"The students are being held on the second floor of the building in the east wing, Draco's chambers. They are strongly spelled so that no one may enter or exit without first knowing the password. Unfortunately only Lucius and one of his death eaters know this piece of information so we'll need a couple of minutes to bust through it.
Since Voldemort's interest in the two, there has been a rise in the security of the grounds with extra death eaters stationed throughout the property.
Snape took a couple of steps backward to the wall at the front of the room. A couple of seconds later and it was transfigured into a chalkboard covered with a map of the Malfoy grounds. Another wave of his wand and coloured dots appeared marking the positions of death eaters. Another wave and the location of Hermione and Draco appeared. Snape spent the next fifteen minutes describing the plan and how they were going to execute it. As he spoke, heads around the table started to nod and people muttered their agreement.
Again Dumbledore stood, thanking Snape and once again addressing the assembled members. "Are we all in agreeance?" he didn't continue talking until he was sure no one had a problem. "That's settled then. We muster at dawn here, ready to move by eight am sharp to our specified locations." He thanked them and dismissed them before turning to MacGonagall and Snape.
"Until then, I believe we have a school to run don't we?"
They left the headquarters and went to the apparating spot, which was just emptying of the other members. A series of three pops and the professors found themselves outside the gate to the school.
It was dark in Draco's chambers. There wasn't any movement either; they were still curled up holding each other as they had been for hours since Hermione arrived. A loud bang made them start awake and sit up. The lights in the chamber had been lit and they could see the door shutting leaving them alone again.
Looking around they saw a tray with a couple of plates of food. They jumped up and grabbed it. They hadn't eaten since the night before and were ravenous. It was Irish stew and a couple of heels of bread. The stew was stone cold, a couple of words from Hermione though and it was almost too hot, the bread also made toasty. Draco smiled his thanks and they dug in.
Not quite satisfied, but better off than before they lay back on the bed. Draco mindlessly played with Hermione's hair, her head in his lap as he leant against the headboard. She had fallen asleep again, it seemed that the veritaserum his father had given her didn't agree with her at all. Gently moving her head onto the bed he crept off the bed and over to his wardrobe. When he was younger he used to use a hidden passage in there so he could sneak out and see his mates at nearby estates on his broom.
It was this passage he searched for now, he hadn't used it in over a year, he didn't know if his father had found it or not. He knelt down in front of the rug in the wardrobe, (it was a very large wardrobe) and peeled it back. He found the ring that pulled up the trap door and grabbed it in excitement.
Only to be thrown back as if struck by that muggle invention electricity. Hitting the wall hard he just sat there in shock for a couple of seconds. Regaining his senses he quickly covered the trapdoor, the guards might have heard the explosion. Hermione had, she sat on the bed looking at him in confusion, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she tried to figure out what he was doing. He stumbled to his feet and towards the window. If he were near the window the guard wouldn't suspect the passageway.
A guard did come in. He stalked over to Draco and picked him up by the collar.
"What do you think you're doing? Going for a little stroll out the window? I don't think so mate, you aren't going nowhere until the Dark Lord has finished with you two. That is, if you can go anywhere by the time that he's finished with you." The death eater dropped him and looked over at Hermione, still on the bed, uncertain of what was going on. The death eater was still angry and wanting to vent.
"What are you looking at you fucking mud blood? Or do you want me to speak slower so you understand?" Hermione still felt drowsy and didn't reply. She just looked at him wondering what on earth his problem was. This just made him angrier, he stalked up to her and grabbed her arms shaking her hard. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you stupid or something?" By now Draco had gotten up, recovering from his shaking and tried to get the man's hands off Hermione. It didn't work; he smashed an elbow into Draco's face, knocking him unconscious. He slumped to the ground.
Hermione, having woken up a bit and started to slide backwards from the death eater, fear etched all over her face. He noticed this of course and came towards her, leering sickeningly. "What's wrong mud blood? Scared I'll do something to you while your boyfriend can't help you? Now why would I do something like that?" He grabbed her wrists. His arms were so strong, she whimpered as he squeezed her delicate wrists. She tried to kick him, using all the things that her martial arts teacher had taught her. But eventually she knew it was useless, he had her in an unbreakable grip.
The death eater pinned her to the bed, he was breathing heavily, smirking at her as she tried to squirm out from under him. Holding her wrists with one dustbin lid hand he used the other to grope inside her shirt, kneading painfully on her breast. She could smell his foul breath as his face got closer to hers. He tried to kiss her mouth but she turned her head aside and got a mouth full of hair. He growled in frustration and slapped her across the face. Whimpering, Hermione stayed still as he started to put his hand down her cotton boxer shorts, fondling her. She felt disgusting. He came down to kiss her again. This time she didn't move. Forcing her mouth open he shoved his tongue in. Hermione snapped out of her petrified state for a moment.
That was enough for Hermione; she clamped her mouth shut, biting down on his tongue. She gagged, as she tasted the metallic tang of blood in her mouth. But it worked; he jumped off her and backed away, swearing his mouth off with a lisp. Any other situation and Hermione might have found it funny. Shooting one final glare at her the death eater half ran from the room, probably to get his tongue fixed.
Hermione however ran to the toilet and threw up the tiny meal that they had just eaten; she kept retching even after there was nothing left. She still felt disgusting, as though she had been tainted, was covered in filth. Looking around the bathroom she spotted the shower and climbed in. turning it scalding hot she sat in there, fully clothed, sobbing.
A/N: there we go, as you can maybe tell I'm not the most… competent person for those kinda scenes but I hope it was ok. Please review!!!