Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR...At least he did 2 hours ago, haven't checked since then.
A/N: Well my pretties, here it is. The long awaited chapter. And to think- its a bit longer too! bows to the audience. Enjoy!
Draco cautiously raised his hand to the side of his face. It was dark, so very dark. He had no idea how much time had passed since he passed out from the pain. Time seemed to drift in and out; almost as if nonexistent here. The only thing that he was sure of at this point was that Caius had almost killed him. And while for the moment, Draco was glad to have survived, he wasn't sure why he was still living. Had something happened to prevent Caius from killing him? Or truthfully, was Caius simply playing with him like a rat caught in a nasty trap.
He lowered his head in the darkness. The pain seemed to radiate throughout his body, but he had to feel. He had to feel if his eye was really gone. His hand met a sticky wetness and as his fingers reached the place his eye should have been, Draco screamed. It was over. No matter if he survived, there was no way that Hermione would want to have anything to do with him now. He was horribly disfigured and blind. He could feel it. Maybe Potter could take care of her; she needed to be with someone strong. Someone not marred someone still perfect.
He moaned and tried to cry, but only felt the wetness spread around his nose. He didn't even have to blink; the only discomfort was the sting of the tears in the tender flesh. He was ruined. Perhaps Caius had granted his wish in a strange sort of way; he would now be left alone to spend his days as a recluse. But rather than the reclusive nature of his existence being a choice, he would now be shunned. There was no one in the wizarding world that would be able to stand to look at him, let alone treat him like something other than a monster.
He moved his legs so that he could stop the sweet numbness from spreading down to his feet. He had nothing left to do but to wait for Caius to finish the job. His only comfort was to know that he at least would not die having never known love.
His breath came in short gasps now; the crying having taken all his strength. If only he hadn't been so stupid. To think he had actually believed an evil wizard to keep to his word. Perhaps he was much more naive than he could ever have imagined. It was hard though. The waiting seemed endless. He wished that he would simply drift back into nothingness, but that did not seem like a good possibility.
Silently, he wondered how long it took a person to bleed to death. Suddenly, he felt eyes watching him. How he felt this, he would never know, but he did feel it all the same.
"Hello?" He asked the darkness, not caring if a killing blow would take him.
He felt a smile stretch upon the features of the person who was now standing in the room with him. How one felt the muscle movements of another, Draco did not know, but as before, the knowledge was there. He felt the figure move so that he was now standing almost on top of him. He could feel the breath on the back of his neck, but was still not afraid. He felt the figures' movements before they were even made, and before the figure could grab him, Draco caught the hand.
"What do you want?" Draco asked the figure.
Caius smiled in the dark; the boy was so very special. The rest had simply let him choke them to death, but not the dragon. Even in his despair, there was a desire to live. Perhaps the mere threat of his loved ones rejection was enough for the boy. He was not broken, but most certainly made deadly. And that, more than anything else, was more important to Caius than servitude.
"Much." Caius answered in a steady voice, but without reproach. The boy jerked his arm away. Caius could feel the boy trying to understand him, but the boy would have to go much further into madness for that.
"Why am I not dead?" Draco asked, completely puzzled.
Caius sat down beside his blinded companion. "Oh Dragon, you simply do not understand. You have managed to survive this brutal maiming, and I have to say that it makes me proud."
Draco wished he could raise an eyebrow to that, but it would be a moot point now. "You mean you did not purposefully keep me alive?"
Caius laughed softly. "No, little Dragon. I'm afraid that this display of self preservation was all yours. None of the others have managed to survive this punishment, but you have. I believe that I have found my pupil."
Draco could hardly believe it. The madman now wanted to train him. Lovely. He was blinded, not to mention completely ruined in terms of unwarranted disfigurement, and now the crazy bastard has decided that he was worthy of receiving his teachings? "How can you teach me anything if I cannot see?" Draco asked calmly, not smartly. He simply wanted to know the answer to this.
"I am sure that you have noticed that you are able to see quite well without your eyes. In fact, I am sure that you can now see much more without them."
Draco could hardly curtail his rage. The lunatic had planned this all along. "I thought the deal was that after 3 years I would be able to go back. There is no way that I can go back to what I was now. You've destroyed me." This was not a statement fueled by anger, but rather one of cunning. He was fishing, and hopefully, the bizarre old wizard would fall for it.
Caius laughed. The boy was going to be such a joy to train. "But little Dragon, I keep my promises. You will be able to return, after I have given you all the gifts I have to offer. First, you must learn to see without seeing. Once you have mastered this task, you will be given your sight back. Surely you haven't forgotten my ability to heal, have you? Granted, you will still be different, but not without a sense of allure."
Draco was now completely confused. Apparently, since he survived the lunatic's torture, it garnered him a bit of niceness from the old bastard. He didn't know whether to be relieved or very very frightened.
"First, I would wish that you light this fire, wandlessly of course."
Draco truly wished that he could roll his eyes. "Sir, how am I supposed to light a fire, wandlessly, and without being able to see?"
"Use your gifts, Draco. Feel the pile of kindling, know it. Then, you will be able to see it."
Draco figured that he might as well try, seeing as he had to learn to manage somehow. Besides, he did not want to grant himself another punishment. Having one's eyes gouged out tended to make one meek.
He took a deep breath and concentrated. Surprisingly, it wasn't as hard as it sounded. He could feel the pile, only a few feet away from the lunatic. The pile itself was not large, perhaps large enough to start a small cooking fire. He decided to wing it, having no idea how he was supposed to do wandless magic and tried to imagine the fire blazing. Somehow, incantations didn't seem to be the answer. After a few moments, he felt power beginning to leave his fingers, stretching out to the fire. He took another deep breath. Internally, he thought one simple word. "Burn". Suddenly, he felt the pile of kindling catch fire and could smell the smoke drift into the air.
He couldn't help it. He smiled.
"Well done, little dragon. I believe that is enough for today. I trust that if I am kind enough to feed you, you will not be retaliating as you did earlier this day?"
Draco could hardly believe it; he imagined that the gouging had occurred the day before. "Sir, I do not wish to be a bother, but how many hours was I out?"
Caius laughed. "Dear Dragon, you were only out for a mere half a day. All of that pain and agony occurred in a simple space of time. It is now simply time for dinner."
Draco nodded. "I Promise, sir. I will no longer be foolish. I have learned my lesson."
Caius chuckled. "Then come out of the cave and get some sun. I will clean your wounds, but your sight will be gone for some time. When you are worthy of it, only then will I return it to you."
Draco gently stood and quietly followed his captor out into the brightness of the sun. Not that he could see it, but he could feel the brightness through the heat on his skin.
Hermione sighed as she heard the sound of footsteps thudding down into the common room. She had never gone to sleep the previous night. Honestly, she felt bad for her actions. She shouldn't have taken it all out of Harry. After all, he was really all she had.
"Morning, Hermione. I hope that you have gotten rid of your attitude this morning." Harry said to her coldly.
Hermione jumped up from the sofa and hugged Harry. "Apologize, Harry. You were right. I never should have gone off like that. Forgive me?" Hermione batted her eyelashes at Harry.
Harry couldn't hold back. Hermione was definitely something else. He laughed. "Hermione, you crack me up."
She smiled. "Good, but don't think that because I was wrong about last night that I still don't think that Draco acted poorly."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Hermione, you are going to think what you want about Draco. I am not going to interfere. Just keep in mind that if it wasn't for him, we might be in the middle of another wizarding war. I suggest that you drop it and try not to let it eat you up inside. After all, you have at least a 3 year wait before you get to unload all of this on the person who deserves it. That is, if he makes it back at all."
Hermione stared at Harry. He really had changed. "Harry, what happened to you?"
Harry laughed. "And to think, you used to say that I was dense. Hello, knock knock Hermione, I fought the darkest wizard Britain has seen in ages and I lived. Don't you think that would make the slightest bit of difference?"
"Harry James Potter! Since when did you become a Smart Aleck?" Hermione snorted and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Sometimes, Harry could simply be insufferable.