A/N: Next chapter reveals more, I promise. ;)

Ch. 10 - Avoidance

I sat up, painfully, wondering why he was in the room with me, how long he'd been in here. We made eye contact for a moment, then he looked at the floor. It looked like something was bothering him, but I felt it was too quick to assume it was about me. Malfoy was so self-centered, I wouldn't be surprised if he was upset because I'd taken so long to wake or something similar. A pang of annoyance hit me as I remembered Malfoy didn't even try going into the room to attempt to stop the torture I had to go through.

"How did you do it?" he asked me slowly, pronouncing each word. He didn't look at me.

"How did I do what?" I asked, unsure what he was talking about.

"They... They told me you didn't scream," he replied, wincing at the last word.

When I didn't answer, he made eye contact with me again, and this time I broke it off. I looked away, unsure how to answer the question. I did it just to show them I could, just to avoid giving them the pleasure of listening to me in pain. They wanted to cause me agony, but I wasn't going to let them hear it. This didn't sound like a reason Malfoy would be interested in, and I still didn't answer as I found him two inches away from me.

"Why do you care? Why does it seem like you suddenly want to be nearer to me, why do you keep coming back in here?" I asked with honest curiosity.

"If you don't want me in here, I'll leave then," Malfoy said, clearly misunderstanding my question.

"No, I don't want you to leave.. Well, I don't exactly want you to stay either, but..." How could I word this right? I didn't want him in the room with me, but I didn't want him to leave, but I couldn't say either without sounding like I actually liked him or sounding rude. "I can't explain it. Just--ugh, never mind."

Malfoy laughed. He laughed. "I get it Granger," he told me, "I get it."

We sat in an awkward silence for a moment, and I decided I might as well take advantedge of the time I had with somebody who knew what was going on. Not that he ever gave me decent answers, but it was always worth a try...

"So," I said. "I'm wondering why you didn't try to stop your parents and Bellatrix from coming in here and putting me through the most horrible pain I've ever experienced in my life." I smiled a fake smile at him.

"Well..." he started. "Okay, here's the story to that."

He was actually going to explain something? Well, that was a first. I was determined to absorb every word he was going to tell me, for this might be the last bit of information I was going to get out of him for a while.

He sighed, then began speaking again. "My father told me he would actually kill me if I seriously tried to stop them from doing whatever they were going to do to you... Honestly, my own father, trying to kill me? I didn't think he would do it, but just to be safe, I didn't try." He paused, and looked at my questioning face. He didn't think Lucius was going to go through with the threat, but the possibility was there. Of course. He would always save his neck before risking himself for somebody else. He was in fact, a Slytherin.

"I found out after the whole thing, though," he continued, unphased by my obvious realization of his selfishness, "that my mother had told him before that he was to leave me be and not kill you as he so wanted to. She knew killing you would upset me greatly [at this he hesitated, it seemed as though he regretted telling me it the second it was said], and, well, to be honest she loves me too much to see me suffering. She was watching you being tortured as a kind of.. Watch-over, if you will. Making sure my father wasn't going to actually kill you. I expect she wasn't involved in the actual curses?"

Instead of answering Malfoy's question, I decided to ask one of my own. "Since when would my death upset you, Malfoy?"

When he looked at me, showing no intentions of answering my question, I continued. "You know, you really don't make any sense. You've always hated me, taken every advantage to make my life as bad as you could make it for years. Then you kidnap me, treat me bad again, leave me in a room here alone. You rape me, and I find out it's your father. Then you're all nice, well, nice for you, and suddenly you don't want me to die. Ha! Never thought I'd hear my death would 'upset' you." I crossed my arms triumphantly. How would he worm his way out of this one?

I wish I hadn't asked. He smiled, and stood up. Oh, no, he wasn't getting away this time. I did the only thing I could think of: I lunged for his right ankle, hurting my sore legs in the process, but I didn't care. He wasn't leaving me with questions again, and if killing me would upset him then maybe hurting me would too, and to get me off of him he was going to have to hurt me.

"Granger, what the --- what the hell are you doing?" he yelled, surprised by my absolutely pathetic attempt to keep him in the room. Then he laughed at me, again, shaking his head. "You're so weak, Granger, get off me."

As he simply walked forward, my aching hands slipped too easily. "Get your ass BACK HERE!" I screamed.

He turned around, obviously not expecting me to scream at him. "Don't tell me what to do, Mudblood," he said simply.

Crap, he was mad. Great way to get information, I noted mentally.

"Granger, I wasn't leaving anyway. God, you overreact so much," he told me, rolling his eyes in the process. He walked next to the door, and picked up the silver tray. Oh. Well, I felt stupid. He was just getting me food, and I attack his foot, looking like an idiot. It was kind of humorous, actually, and I smiled, picturing what had just happened.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked as he sat the tray down next to me, full of fresh food.

"Uhm... You're avoiding my question?" I said hopefully.

"I know I am," he acknowledged.

He admitted to avoiding my question, strange, he'd never done that previously. "Okay, why are you avoiding my question?" I asked.

"You won't like the answer and I won't like your reaction," he replied instantly.

Ugh. Was I ever going to get this out of him? I felt the familiar feeling of frustration flowing through my body. "Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?"

"Why do you have to ask so many questions?"

I snorted.

"Perhaps you've forgotten, but I'm a Malfoy. That's why I'm so stubborn," he said, looking smug.

Out of all the questions he chose to answer, of course, he chose the one I had been sarcastic in asking and not really wanting an answer to. I told him, "You are really getting on my nerves, Malfoy. Do me a favor, and please tell me what this is all about?"

He sighed. "Fine, Granger. I'll tell you. It was about time anyway"