Harry sat in front of Dobby's grave with his legs crossed as the cold winter sea air bit at his face. It had been five days since Hermione, Ginny and Neville had gone missing and he had practically gone insane with worry. He hated to admit it but deep down he was sure they would all be dead.

He could tell Ron and Luna were torn up about it too but he couldn't help but wallow in self-pity. He had lost the two girls he loved more than anything in the world; he'd lost everyone he loved in this twisted war against evil.

He looked out across the beautiful beach as dark rain clouds swirled in the distance above the grey sea. If they were alive they would be here by now, he thought sadly.

He thought about how he had treated Ginny the last time he saw her, he had been vicious towards her and it was the first time he'd seen her in months, and probably the last time he'd ever see her again. Guilt ripped through him even harder when he thought about how he and Hermione had been together that night.

He was in love with Hermione and it took him losing her to fully admit it to himself. The night before they had been separated he was about to kiss her, like he had wanted to for what felt like a lifetime. She looked as though she would have kissed him back but he panicked and pulled back, he didn't want to take advantage of her vulnerable state but he wished with every fibre of his body that he had gone through with it, he might never get another chance and the thought felt like it was trying to rip his heart straight out of his chest.

Harry thought it had been too long, he wanted to plan a rescue mission but Ron had stopped him, even though he too wanted the safety of his sister, cousin and friend, he thought they should get more information first. When Harry had told Ron about Hermione being his cousin he disappeared into his room for a whole day before Harry saw him again. He didn't even come out for food! When they saw him again he was exactly the same as he had been before he heard the news as though it hadn't changed anything at all.

Harry was frustrated with Ron's suggestion of holding back for a while before they attacked Malfoy Manor, it wasn't like they were getting any information stuck in this cottage. Every second they waited, the love of his life was more likely to be dead.

He looked over the beach for a moment in an attempt to clear his head when he saw a black lump of a figure lying face down in the sand. He jolted up as pure dread set into his entire body and he began to run towards the figure.

As he grew closer he could tell the body wasn't a woman and the relief that swept over him almost caused him to fall over as he sprinted.

He reached the lifeless form and could see his long, platinum hair blowing in the rough winds. Harry was sure he knew who it was so approached the body with caution. He pulled out his wand and gave the body a hard prod with the end of it but the figure didn't move.

He then gave it a swish and flick and the body flipped around to lie on its back. The wind blew the hair out of Lucius' lifeless face as he stared blankly into the sky above him.

Harry jumped back at the sight in disgust. What the hell was Lucius' dead body doing on this beach? He searched the body carefully but Lucius had been stripped of all his possessions. Harry assumed he had been killed with the killing curse but who would have performed it? Harry felt a pang of hope as he thought the only people who would kill this man in this location had to be on his side. It hadn't been any of those in the cottage so could it be someone else from the Order? Or maybe even Hermione, or Ginny?

Harry dismissed the thought of it being Hermione who killed Lucius, he knew she wasn't capable of killing someone; she was too pure, too kind.

Even while staring at one of his enemies dead body he still managed to end up thinking about how amazing she was, he just couldn't switch it off no matter how hard he tried, he needed her back and he would do anything and kill anyone to get her.

He decided to levitate Lucius body into the sea so the tide could take him to his final resting place. Lucius may have been a monster in his own right, but was still human after all. If only Harry knew the real truth, of how he had tortured the woman he loved, he probably would have just left him there to rot.

He started to make his way back to the cottage as small droplets of rain started to fall from the sky. He was going to push for this rescue and he would either get them back or die trying, because the way things were right now, life wasn't worth living anyway.


Hermione sat on her small single bed with a fluffy blanket wrapped around her shoulders reading the book Draco had given her. It surprised her that this book was one of his favourites; it was far too deep for someone like him. It was a story about love and second chances, it was beautifully written and Hermione felt the emotions portrayed on every page. She had almost read the whole thing in the one night she'd had it and she'd only managed a few hours of sleep. It was now nearing mid-day, she thought.

There was a soft knock on her door and Draco stepped through, he looked as though he hadn't had any sleep either but still looked incredibly handsome without the twisted look of anger on his face. Hermione placed the book down onto her lap as he walked over and sat down on the bed next to her.

"You're almost finished" He said with surprise.

She just looked down at the book and nodded her head.

"My followers are leaving today. This Manor is no longer going to be used as headquarters."

Hermione looked up to him worriedly. "Will the prisoners be moved?" She asked. She hated being captive here and wanted nothing more than to be back with Harry and the rest of her friends, to be free, but as far as Hermione was concerned she didn't have it too bad here considering she was a prisoner. If she was relocated she could end up in a much worse situation.

"Some of them will be, but I will keep those who are of use to me." He explained.

"My friends?" She asked.

"All extremely useful." He assured her.

"What about Cecil?" She asked with concern.

Draco looked at her in confusion; he didn't have the slightest clue who Cecil was.

"The muggle-born carpenter" She explained further as she noticed he didn't know who she was talking about.

"He is of no real use to me" Draco dismissed. "I thought you might be more concerned about whether or not you would be staying here."

She shook her head but it was a lie, she was worried. "Cecil could be of great use to you if you would give him the chance, he's a very talented man." She continued, she barely knew him really but she couldn't stand the thought of him being in a worse situation than this one.

He looked at her curiously. "Do you want him to stay?" He asked gently.

She nodded slightly as she looked at the book in her lap.

"Then he will stay." He said and she looked up at his face happily "If you will join me for dinner this evening." He finished and her face dropped into a look of confusion. Was he really blackmailing her to join him for dinner? She thought back to what Devereux had said about Draco using her friends against her, she never thought this was what he could mean by that. She was his prisoner, why on earth did he want to sit down and eat a meal with her? "You can tell me what you thought of the book." He said gently and placed his hand on her shoulder.

She knew she didn't really have a choice; she liked nice Draco much more than the evil one even though it unnerved her to no end. She nodded her head reluctantly as if to say yes. She knew she'd be staying here at Malfoy Manor if she would be joining Draco for dinner that evening and she was oddly happy about it. Since Draco had been being kind to her, she had felt strangely safe but she hated herself for it.

"Very good." He said happily and squeezed her shoulder slightly. "I'll have arrangements made. I will also send you more appropriate attire." He stood up and moved towards the door, just before he opened it he looked at back at Hermione who was now staring blankly at the book in her lap again. She would be happy here with him one day, he reassured himself. Then he too could be happy.

She looked up at him and when she caught him staring at her she quickly and shyly turned her head away in embarrassment which made Draco smile. He thought every single thing about her was absolutely perfect, she will be his and he will be hers and it would be perfect. Draco would not let anyone stand in his way, he would get what he wanted, he always did.

With that thought he left the room and left Hermione sitting on her bed riddled with confusion. She would find out why he was acting this way towards her tonight, she had to.

Hours passed, Hermione had long since finished the book and had started reading it from the beginning again. There was a knock on the door and Devereux stepped in holding a folded item of clothing with a pair of beautiful, black velvet, heeled shoes, they had a large dark green stone on each of them.

Devereux handed them to Hermione and smiled. "If I were you, I'd make yourself look as stunning as you possibly can for our Lord. You're a very lucky woman." He said with a grin.

"Our Lord? Our Lord?" She hissed at him with disgust. "He isn't my Lord and he never will be. I'm not lucky because I'm forced to spend time with that monster, and you clearly have no respect for yourself if you really follow him." She spat, she didn't really know why what he'd said had angered her so much but she was furious.

He looked at her for a few seconds as she breathed heavily in anger. "What makes me any different to you, Hermione?" He asked her softly.

"W-what?" She asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"You followed Dumbledore, correct?" He asked.

"Yes bu-."

"And you now follow Harry Potter in his place, correct?" He asked not really caring to hear her answer.

"Well, I guess I do but Dumbledore was nothing like Voldemort, and Harry is nothing like Draco." She stated angrily.

"Oh really?" He asked as he raised his eyebrows and took a step closer to her. She wasn't frightened of Devereux; in fact he'd actually been quite decent towards her. "A wise wizard once told me that there is no such thing as good and evil, Hermione, only power." He explained. "Dumbledore was on the same quest for power as Voldemort, he just had a different approach. Draco, just like Harry has stepped into the place of his old master to continue the fight. So please, tell me what makes me and you so different?"

She didn't actually have an answer; she had never looked at things that way before. Was she just as bad as they were?

Devereux turned to leave. "Please, wait!" She called after him as he reached the door; he turned to look at her again. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's not your fault." She said.

He nodded. "If you want my advice I would be on your best behaviour tonight, it could lead to great things for you, my dear." He said as he looked seriously into her eyes. "It seems the Dark Lord has quite the soft spot for you." He said with a smile and then left the room.

Soft spot? Hermione thought in horror. Is that why he was being like this to her? He actually liked her? That just couldn't be true. This had to be one big plan to break through her walls and get her to talk or join their side. She wouldn't allow that to happen.

Hermione slipped on the elegant, black, knee-length dress and almost dislocated her arms trying to zip up the back. The hem of the dress fell beautifully around her knees and the V-neck made her neck and collar-bones look lovely. It again was a very simple dress but elegant and hugged her perfectly in all the right places before hanging loosely around her legs. Who was choosing these dresses? Whoever it was seemed to know her body better than she did. It surely could not have been Draco.

She sat down on the bed and slipped the shoes onto her feet, again a perfect fit; the green stones where deep in colour but were surely not emeralds or anything valuable like that, they were a pair of shoes it would be obscured. Then she remembered that Draco probably had more money than sense and realized that it was probably the norm in his world.

She sat on the bed and waited, she had not been given a time to be ready, not that she had any way of telling the time anyway. It was a luxury she had taken for granted. Just then Devereux stepped through the door, as if he knew she was ready. He looked her up and down with wide eyes. "You're going to knock him dead!" He said with a smile.

"I sincerely hope so" She said sinisterly as she looked into his eyes with a bit of a crazed look in hers.

"If you want to get through this evening unharmed Miss Prewett I would drop that attitude." He warned.

"Why are you calling me that?" She asked in annoyance as she narrowed her eyes.

"The Dark Lord has forbid us to call you anything else, Miss Prewett."

"Well your Lord doesn't get to decide what people call me." She snapped.

"Listen to me, Hermione; you are being given a chance to do this the easy way. I strongly advise you take it." He said seriously.

"Do what the easy way!?" She hissed nastily.

He shook his head in disappointment. "All I'm going to say is - you won't like the hard way. Now not another word or you'll get us both into trouble." He said and gestured for her to take his arm.

She walked over to him and took it reluctantly and he guided her though the manor to the dining room.

"What does Malfoy want with me?" She asked as they walked.

"It's really none of my business." He replied with a smile.

They reached the dining hall and Devereux stopped and gave Hermione a small peck on her knuckles. "He's just through there." He said and gestured towards the door. "Be nice." he warned and then stepped away and took his position to guard the door.


Draco sat at the head of the large dining room table; he could tell she was just on the other side of the door when he concentrated hard enough due to the charm of the silver snake.

The door clicked open and she stepped through the door and closed it gently behind her. Draco looked at the elegant form that was Hermione in delight. She was simply stunning from head to toe. She stood awkwardly by the door as he looked her up and down approvingly. The heels of her shoes made her legs look extravagant, and the silver snake, His silver snake was wrapped beautifully around her delicate little ankle. The top of her dress had subtle embroided dark green swirls that the light of the dining room reflected off perfectly making the upper part of the dress look more a dark shade of green rather than black, just as Draco hoped it would.

"Come, sit." He said as he stood up and pulled her chair out. Hers was the only other chair at the unbelievably large dining table and it sat to the side of Draco's. She walked hesitantly over to the chair and lowered herself into it and he gave her a little push closer to the table before he took his seat again. "It's so nice to finally have a night off." He said as he relaxed and poured Hermione a glass of wine. It was all very bizarre to her; it was like she was on a date with this man, not his prisoner, she thought as she studied him closely.

"You're not going quiet one me again, Hermione." He said calmly but his voice held a hint of warning.

"I don't really know exactly what it is you want me to say." She said more nastily than she was supposed to and her negative attitude didn't go unnoticed by Draco. She could tell as he tensed his face and frowned at her. He picked up his glass and sipped his wine before gently placing it back on the table. Hermione looked away and into the flame of the candle directly in front of her.

"Look at me." He demanded but she just ignored him and continued to stare at the dancing flame. He stared at her impatiently and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Don't make me ask you again." He warned but she didn't look away from the candle. Hermione heard his chair scrape backwards across the wooden floor as Draco stood up, leant across the table and grabbed her chin forcibly in his hand and tried to pull her face into his direction but she fought against him. "Why must you always fight me?!" He asked with frustration heavy in his voice as he won the mini-battle they were having and dragged Hermione's gaze to meet his.

"I'm your prisoner!" She spat as she burned her hateful eyes into his dark grey ones, she knew when his eyes lost their light that he was angry but this time he didn't show it. He loosened his grip on her chin and stroked her jaw lightly with his thumb which made Hermione uncomfortable.

"You're only my prisoner for as long as you make it that way." He said and then he moved his hand from her face, pulled his chair back in and sat down to take another sip of wine. She looked at him with her beautiful confused face and he leant forward on his elbows. "I don't want us to be enemies, Hermione." He said, almost sincerely.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well then let me prove it." He suggested and she narrowed her eyes at him like she was trying to read his mind. "Here, close your eyes." He said and then stood up. She shook her head immediately in objection and leant in the direction away from Draco as she was suddenly uncomfortable with how close he was. "We don't have to do this the hard way, Hermione." He said and she remembered what Devereux had said to her - 'You won't like the hard way.'

She sat normally in her chair again and slowly closed her eyes, leaving herself completely vulnerable.

He stood behind her, pulled a gorgeous necklace from the pocket of his grey trousers and draped it around her lovely neck and clasped it shut at the back before pulling her hair from underneath it and settling her beautiful curls around her shoulders. He moved back to his seat as Hermione opened her eyes and looked down at his gift.

The necklace was actually the most stunning piece of jewellery she had ever seen. It had eight simply beautiful emeralds and all of them were framed majestically with flawless diamonds. The pendant of the necklace and the biggest stone of them all was in a teardrop shape a little like her father's necklace but bigger, it also hung a little lower than her ruby one as the chain was longer, she could probably lift this one over her head to take it off without undoing it if she wanted to.

She looked at it in amazement and then noticed her dress was all of a sudden matching the colour of the stones on her new necklace, and the stones on her shoes which made her angry, why was he dressing her in the Slytherin colour? She looked up at him to find him studying her reaction.

Draco looked at his newest Horcrux which was now hanging around his Hermione's beautiful, delicate neck and falling roughly by her heart. A piece of his soul would now be with her always, and she would never be able to remove it. Like the silver snake it was charmed so only he could take it off.

"What do you want with me, Malfoy?" She spat and he closed his eyes and tensed up at her calling him by his family name, again.

"Don't- call- me- that." He said very slowly and clearly to make sure she understood. "It's Draco, to you. I don't want to have to tell you again, I know you're not stupid." He hissed and turned once again to his wine.

"Just answer my question." She said bravely and he flicked his angry eyes up to meet hers.

"You really want to know?" He asked and she nodded her head. "I want you to be mine and no one else's. I want you to spend the rest of your life here with me. I want to touch, taste and know every single part of you, and for you to be loyal to me only." He admitted bluntly. Her mouth had dropped open in shock without her even being aware of it happening. She was speechless; she just stared at him in disbelief. "I want you to be my wife, Hermione." He said as he grabbed her hand and held it gently.

Her eyes were wide and her face was pretty much expressionless. He was insane, she'd always suspected it, he was clearly unhinged but now she knew he had really lost his mind. She just stared at him like a fool for a few moments as she thought.

She suddenly snapped back to reality and snatched her hand away from his quickly and looked at him with disgust. Although she was still speechless and couldn't get any words out Draco had read her reaction and wasn't happy. "Say something." He demanded seriously as his dark eyes pierced through her.

"I, I-I will never marry a h-heartless monster like you!" She shouted breathlessly as she stood up out of her chair in an attempt to leave. He grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to fire a deadly look at her.

"You don't want to do this." He warned but she just yanked her arm out of his grip and made her way to the door. Just as she put her hand on the handle to open it Draco's glass smashed off the wall next to her and shattered into tiny pieces, erupting like a firework made from glass and wine. Some of the shards grazed Hermione's arm and face as they flew in every direction and droplets of wine splashed all over her. "Don't you take another step!" Draco shouted venomously; his rough words echoed around the room and into Hermione's ears. She moved her hand up from the door handle to touch her cheek where she thought the glass had caught her and sure enough when she pulled her fingers back into her eye-line they were covered in blood.

She turned around to face him with hate in her eyes and blood running down the side of her face. He saw she was bleeding and rushed over to her immediately in a panic. "Let me heal you." He said as he pulled out his wand and frantically tried to cast the spell but she wouldn't stay still. Draco reluctantly gave up, put his wand away, grabbed her by her arms and slammed her backwards into the door out of frustration. Her body instantly ached from the impact. "You're either with me, or you're against me." He hissed nastily as she struggled beneath his strong grip.

"I've always been against you, and a necklace isn't about to change that!" She shouted and continued to struggle. He pulled her away from the door sharply just to slam her back into it again.

He leant in close to her face as he held her wrists and pushed his body into hers. He planted a small kiss on her cheek, and then another a little closer to her mouth, he was just about to kiss her lips but she ripped her face away. He then held both of her wrists in one, monstrous, effortless grasp held them up above her head as she struggled helplessly against him.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked desperately as she fought back the tears threatening to escape from her eyes as she looked to the side, away from him.

"You said the necklace wasn't enough and you were right, so I'm going to give you another reason." He whispered softly, directly into her ear, his warm breath sent tingles down Hermione's spine as it brushed against her skin. He grabbed her chin in his now free hand and forced her to look directly at him and before she knew it his warm lips were moving against hers, she tried to pull away but she couldn't move. She hated herself for it but there was something about him that was pulling her in.

He pulled out of the kiss and looked into her watery eyes. "Kiss me back." He whispered and then leant back in for a second time and to his utter amazement she shyly started to kiss him back. Draco felt sparks run through his entire body; he never knew just how much he really wanted to have her until this moment. He had kissed plenty of girls in the past but none of them made him feel like this.

Hermione didn't know what she was doing, her mind was screaming at her to stop but she couldn't. She didn't know if she was doing it out of fear, shock or because at this moment it was exactly what she wanted. Maybe Draco was the sane one, and it was her who had actually lost her mind.

He let go of her wrists and put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his body and hooked the other around the back of her neck. He deepened the kiss and she returned the favour. Just as she reached out her hand to touch him back she was slapped around the face by reality and pulled away sharply and started to sob. He let go of her in shock and she stumbled backwards before her back was again touching the door. She slid down onto the floor and put her face into her knees as she cried, out of confusion, guilt, and in fear of no longer being in control of actions. She hated herself at this moment more than she hated him.

Draco stood back, extremely satisfied with himself. "There's no need to be ashamed, Princess." He said gently and she shot her teary, angry eyes up to meet his.

"Of course I'm ashamed! I'm not your princess! I'm your prisoner! I hate you, I will never feel anything but hate for you and It's about time you saw that!"

He stared at her as he breathed heavily in anger trying to control his temper but failing. "After everything I've done for you and you still treat me this way you ungrateful little bitch!" He spat and dragged her to her feet. "You think you're a prisoner? Then I guess I should start treating you like one." He said venomously through his gritted teeth. "Let me know when you change your mind." He said and then yanked the door open and Devereux almost fell through onto both of them, he shot himself up and stood straight and then he bowed.

"I-I erm, heard a commotion, I was just on my way in to make sure you were alright, My Lord." He lied hoping Draco wouldn't know he'd been listening in on everything that had just happened.

"Well then you'd be a little late Devereux and I'd already be dead." He said simply seeing straight through his excuse but he chose to ignore it, he had bigger things to think about. "Take Miss Prewett here back to the dungeons. The split cell perhaps?" He said and then threw a trembling Hermione into Devereux' arms before slamming the door shut behind them both.

Draco looked down at Hermione's blood that had stained his otherwise flawless white sleeve and smiled. She would be his, it was only a matter of time and now he knew it for definite. He smugly walked over to the table and picked up Hermione's untouched glass of wine and took a large gulp. She just needed a little bit of persuasion and she would fall helplessly into his arms and he knew exactly what he needed to do to make that happen.