From The Heart Of A Wanted Witch

"What is she doing?" Pogue asked the table.

Narrowing his eyes in confusion, Spike looked around, "Did anyone know she was planning on singing tonight?"

"Obviously," Reid laughed. "It is a karaoke bar. Why do you think she wanted to come so badly?"

"I honestly thought she just wanted to ask the demons all sorts of questions about their life styles," Caleb shrugged his shoulders.

Laughing, Faith rolled her eyes. She leaned back and felt something on her chair. Looking back, she saw Reid's arm and looked up at him. He seemed to be too busy staring at Hermione as she stood in front of the microphone. Deciding that she liked the feeling of his arm being where it was, Faith ignored it then looked back up at Hermione. "You got this Doll Face!" she shouted.

Blushing when she heard Faith shout her encouragement from all the way across the room, Hermione smiled shyly at her then looked out at all the watching faces. At least some of them had faces. One of them was just a giant floating eyeball. Looking around, Hermione saw the way Lorne ignored all his surroundings, focusing on just her, and she got nervous. Did she really want to see how her future played out? What if Lindsey had the right idea – what if Lorne saw that there was no future for her? What if Lucius manages to kill her and she abandons Harry and Ron? Knowing that people want to kill her and hearing about her death are two completely different things.

Hermione's eyes met Lindsey's and she gulped in air. He seemed to be giving her a nod of encouragement with his head, mistaking her sudden fear as stage fright. Nodding her head back at him, she held onto the microphone and cleared her throat. Everyone was watching her now, and no one was making a sound. She decided to shut her eyes.

Take a breath,

Take it deep.

"Calm yourself," he says to me.

If you play you for keeps.

Take the gun and count to three.

I'm sweating now, moving slow;

No time to think, my turn to go

"Bloody hell!" Spike dropped his glass filled with blood and stared up at the girl on stage.

Faith's eyes were larger than a house-elf's and Reid started to choke on his butterbeer. "Holy shit!"

Keeping her eyes shut, Hermione continued to sing the song that she remembered falling in love with on her first day in America. The taxi driver had it playing on the radio, and she felt something pulling her to it; like the song was calling out to her. Oblivious to the dropped jaws around her, Hermione envisioned Draco sitting right in front of her. Removing her hands off the microphone, she moved them towards her chest, trying to prevent Draco from getting to her heart. He already claimed her mind – she wouldn't let him claim her heart as well.

And you can see my heart;

You can see it through my chest.

Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving.

I know that I must pass this test,

So just pull the trigger

Tyler looked over at Lorne and his heart began to race. It looked as if the demon was crying. The thought scared the hell out of him – what could he see in Hermione's future that had him in tears? Maybe he was just an extremely emotional demon and cried for the slightest of things? Hopefully Hermione was just going to get a paper cut next week and Lorne was saddened by the thought of it. Tearing his eyes away from the slightly weeping demon, Tyler saw the lawyer sitting at the bar. He seemed to be shocked; tightly gripping the glass filled with whiskey so that his knuckles were becoming a powder color. Lindsey wasn't looking at Hermione though – he too was frightened by the sight of the crying demon.

Hermione was having fun. This was the most carefree thing she had ever done in her life – even breaking Sirius free and riding a hippogriff seemed to be nothing in comparison to this. She was having fun. With her eyes shut, she could see Draco twirling a glass of firewhiskey in his hands – because he's a bad boy and most likely drinks firewhiskey just because it's not allowed – and leaning back in his chair while judging her. His eyes raked over her body and he approved of her outfit. His ears were taking in the words that Hermione sang to him, and her heart jumped when he smirked at her.

Say a prayer to yourself.

He says, "Close your eyes, sometimes it helps,"

And then I get a scary thought:

That he's here means he never lost.

This was his game that they were playing. He was the pureblooded prince of Slytherin and everyone craved him. Everywhere he went, Draco had his entourage of people. Of course, Hermione knew that they were only following him around because of who he was, but he wouldn't listen to her when she told him so. Hermione knows the difference though – they crave him, but they don't love him; they follow him around the school, but they wouldn't follow him into a fire. It didn't matter though that they weren't his true friends because he had them. She had no one. Sure, she had Harry and Ron, and sometimes the rest of the Weasleys – it didn't matter that they were truly there for her and would jump in front of the killing curse to protect her, because in the end of it all his group was larger than hers. It made no sense to her, but as she mentioned – this is his game.

Everything that once made sense to her no longer matter anymore and all common sense was thrown out of the window. They were playing by his rules now; rules that would get one of them hurt in the process of whatever they were doing. Hermione's breath hitched and the audience that she had forgotten about sensed that this song was personal to her now. Draco was still sitting there; that smirk of his was still set into his face. He swallowed the firewhiskey in one sip and he lifted both of his hands behind his head while watching her; he could see the fear in her eyes as the realization hit her – this was his game, his rules, his story. He was sitting right in front of her, smug at whatever he was looking at and it scared the hell out of her. He's played this game before. He played it, and he won.

And you can see my heart;

You can see it through my chest.

Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving.

I know that I must pass this test,

So just pull the trigger

Her hands were clutching at her chest. She tried to calm her heart down, but it's as if it can sense that it's about to become demolished and it wanted out before it could be put down. Hermione tried to call out to him, plead with him to spare her the pain, but he's laughing instead. He's enjoying this; every part of it – he likes it when she begs him for something. This is only proving that she truly is beneath him, no better than the mud she's named after. Draco continued to sit there in that bloody chair, his hands still behind his head and the smug smirk still set on his stone etched face. She tries to look away, but it's impossible to. His eyes call to her, silver like the steel of the knife that he's about to carve into her with.

As my life flashes before my eyes,

I'm wondering will I ever see another sunrise.

So many won't get the chance to say goodbye,

But it's too late to think of the value of my life

He's laughing at her now, and she's ashamed of how vulnerable she is at the moment. His father works for the man who killed her best friend's parents when Harry was only a one year old infant. His father was the one who attacked her with the Cruciatus Curse, and his father was the one who put out a hit for her. She was only thirteen years old; she shouldn't be this deep into anything – especially not with him, not with Draco Malfoy. He continues to laugh at her, a bone chilling and cruel laugh, as if he can read her mind. There are tears in her eyes now, and she shuts her eyes even tighter; refusing to allow him to see what he does to her.

She remembers all the harsh names he's called her and all the cruel jokes that he made at her expense. She remembers the spell that he cast at her and caused her teeth to grow abnormally large, causing her to be rushed to Madam Pomfrey. His laugh grows louder as she thinks back to the way he made fun of her and her friends – her friends, oh Merlin. What would they say if they knew? She hasn't had a chance to warn them about anything that has been happening. He pulled her away from them for so long; isolating her until she became as alone as him. She's been trapped by him for so long that she hadn't been out in what seemed like years to her. She lost everyone she loved because of him.

Harry and Ron were no longer her best friends. Ginny no longer trusted her with their little girl talks. Even Lavender and Parvati stopped their gossiping when she entered their dorm. Neville stopped asking for her help in potions, Seamus no longer gave her a friendly smile, and the twins stopped trying to make her laugh. And he laughed at all of this; he was winning. She lost everyone and no one was there for her to say goodbye too. She wanted to leave and walk away, but she was in too deep. They've been playing for years now, and it was too late to turn her back on it. He won and he knew it; he had her trapped in his twisted game and she couldn't leave him. Not now! Not after so long of playing it!

Seeing visions of things that haven't happened, Hermione's eyes flew open.

And you can see my heart;

You can see it through my chest.

Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving.

Know that I must pass this test

Instead of the silver of a dagger's blade, Hermione found herself peering into the baby blue eyes of the man who was betraying his bosses to keep her alive. He held the glass of amber liquid in his hands the same way Draco was just holding his own glass. He sat in the same smug way that Draco had just been sitting in, in that very same chair. He watched her as closely as Draco had been observing her. They played a similar game, but were very different players. Draco had been cruelly laughing at her while Lindsey looked saddened by the tears he saw in her eyes. He looked pained about something – as if silently begging her to stop singing her song. But she couldn't finish it… not before it was meant to end.

Draco likes to play games. To him, this is all a game. Lindsey has the comfort of his guitar and his stage to keep him sane, and Draco sets the rules of his own made up games. But Hermione is Hermione; she seeks comfort in books and school. She's playing Draco's game, and she follows all the rules because that's what she does. But Draco doesn't understand her the way that she understands him. To Draco this is a game, but to Hermione this is a test. She wouldn't walk out of a real test and she won't walk out of this one. Draco has never lost a game before, but Hermione has never failed a test.

And you can see my heart;

You can see it through my chest.

Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving.

I know that I must pass this test,

So just pull the trigger.

She stopped singing and everyone was standing and clapping for her; her friends were all cheering rather loudly and calling her name out in a celebratory tone, but her eyes remained on Lindsey's. She walked off the stage and she continued to watch Lindsey while he continued to watch her. Lorne caught her arm and she turned to face him, seeing the telltale signs of tears on his face.

"Do you want to know, Hermione?"

He called her by her actual name and a choke got caught in her throat. She's never heard of him calling anyone by their own actual name before. She was always told that he had his own made up nicknames for everyone. So why was he calling her by her given name? Her friends all gathered around her, but she ignored their hugs and words of surprised excitement. She turned around until she saw him again. He was still watching her and she felt her nerves attack her again. Once again, she began to wonder if he had the right idea all along. Did Lindsey know the dangers of seeing into your own future? Did they share the same fears of a future that didn't exist for either of them?

She thought back to the song she just sang, and Hermione nodded her head across at him. He returned the gesture then stood up and walked out. They were both in the same situation. They had a connection that was similar in the way that water was equal to a computer, but they were in the same situation. He had his comfort, but it resulted in possibly hearing of his own demise. She had her own comfort as well, but it resulted in giving into Draco's comfort. Draco's comfort meant her own demise. In the end someone would have to give up a comfort.

Draco loved to write his own rules and play his own games. He had never lost before. Hermione loved to study and take tests. She had never failed before. What happens when you force the two of them into the same situation and neither can leave until one loses? Will he finally lose the game or will she fail her first test? What happens when you raise the stakes? Losing the game will result in Draco's death and failing the test will result in Hermione's death? Can the two of them find some way to come together and defy the laws of logic or will they do the only thing they know how to do best – make more rules and study harder?

Disclaimer: Russian Roulette is sung by Rihanna,and obviously I don't own either of them. I know that I said I would upload it tomorrow, but I'm really really eager to start posting up the sequel already; I want to see your guys' reactions to it. And I just really love all of you(: the next chapter will be posted up tomorrow – possibly both of them depending on how many reviews I get on this one. I'm really worried about this chapter because it confused me while I was writing it, but it's what helps the sequel to somewhat fall into place. Only two chapters left to go(: