Draco awoke slowly, sitting up with a moan at the pain that seemed to come from everywhere every time he moved. He blinked a few times and his surroundings slowly went from unrelenting gray to becoming shapes and darkness. He could see figures moving around, their cloaks swishing in the unnatural cold breeze that blew throughout the room. Were they Death Eaters?

He tried to stand up, but immediately, he was pulled back onto the floor by a rope tied nearly taut around his middle. It was hard to take a true breath, but he got air in little spurts. He opened his mouth and called out in a hoarse croak, "where am I? What's happened to us?" While he waited for the figures to answer, he turned his head painfully to the side, and to his dismay, he saw the still unconscious form of Hermione a ways down from him. To his alarm, she didn't seem to be breathing. Her face was pale and there were deep circles under her eyes. He couldn't look away from her.

Finally, one of the cloaked figures approached him and Draco reluctantly averted his gaze to face the man.

"What happened to her?" Draco asked. "Why isn't she breathing?"

The man said nothing but slowly removed his hood, and Draco's eyes widened as he saw the man's face. It was as pale as Hermione's and the man's eyes were sunk so deep in his skull that he seemed to have no eyes at all. His teeth were yellow with an occasional fleck of black, and Draco got full view of them as the man continued to grin like a skeleton.

"You're awake." The man's voice was slow, and seemed to echo strangely in the cavernous room. "We've been wondering when you'd come around. Come with me."

The man held out a bony, almost translucent hand, and Draco swallowed. "I'm tied, remember? You'll have to let me out if you want me to come with you."

The man blinked, momentarily nonplussed, then finally pulled a knife from his pocket, cutting apart Draco's bonds.

"Aren't you going to release her too?" he asked, nodding at Hermione's prone form. "Or is there no need to let her out because she's dead?"

"She lives, but just barely. It was decided upon arrival that she would remain under our control until we have need of her. At that point, the enchantment she's under will be removed. But you will not see her again."

He then became silent, leading Draco through endless white hallways. The air was still cold here, and on either side of him, there were doors with sounds behind them he had no desire to identify. He took another deep breath and spoke to the man.

"We aren't at the Clan Castle anymore, are we?"

The shake of his captor's head was nearly imperceptible. Abruptly, he stopped in front of a fireplace. Beside it was a bag of something that looked like floo powder, only it was in different colors. The taller man stepped to the bag and grabbed a handful of the stuff, throwing it with a jerk into the empty fireplace, which suddenly burst into purple and pearl-colored flames. Draco was so fascinated by their beauty that he leaned forward to get a closer look. At that moment, he felt a tugging motion, as if the flames were urging him closer, drawing him into the fire. Then he felt the warmth, and before he could cry out, he tumbled into the flames and began spinning out of control. The last thing he saw that wasn't a wall of flames was the tall man's stony face.


As Dumbledore had predicted, Remus and Professor McGonagall appeared at the house around late afternoon along with others, and both looked extremely tense and worried.

"Harry," Remus asked, gazing at him and Ron steadily, "don't you think we should wait for Dumbledore before leaving?"

Harry shook his head. "No, he told me and Ron specifically to leave with everyone once they got here, and then he would meet us later. I promise that's what he said." Ron nodded in agreement.

Remus looked around the room as if someone else would come up with a better answer or else convince the boys that they were mistaken. Finally, when no one else would come forward, he capitulated.

"All right, we'll go. But are you absolutely sure that Dumbledore said he would meet us at the castle?"

Ron nodded. "Our best friend's life is at stake. Do you think we would lie about something like that?"

Remus smiled sadly. "I guess not."

Kingsley led in the brooms from the back shed and they all mounted, pushing off so fast that Ron's broom almost threw him.

"Oy! Some help here?" he cried. Harry turned and saw his friend hanging on to the handle with one hand. Pushing furiously, he guided the broom over and instructed Ron to put his free hand on the broom handle. Once that was firmly in place, Ron hoisted himself upward and was once again safely astride and just a little shaken.

"Do you think you'll be all right now?" Harry asked, surprised that none of the others had noticed and come to help.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. But we might want to get a move on if we want to catch up with the others. We don't know where we're going if you remember."

Harry turned away from Ron and realized that there was no one but the two of them there. The others had gone ahead without them, possibly not realizing about Ron's mishap. The two boys sighed to themselves and started up their brooms once again, hoping that they were going the right way.

They'd been flying east awhile when they saw a figure flying towards them and realized with a start that it was Remus. He was looking very frantic.

"Boys, there you are! I'm so sorry no one realized you got left behind. We found the castle, and we checked it thoroughly multiple times, but I'm sorry to say that Hermione is no longer there. She must have been moved, or maybe she was never there at all. We can't really tell from the looks of things."


Draco landed abruptly in a room made out of stone, but this one was incredibly toasty and warm. So much so that it made him long to go back into the chilly, dank hallway. As soon as he got his bearings, he stood up and his eyes met those of Voldemort.

"So nice that you could join us for dinner, young Malfoy," he said silkily. "Not even late. I like punctuality in my dinner guests."

He led Draco to a table completely obscured by food. Draco felt wetness around his mouth as he eyed the scrumptious chickens and turkeys, as well as the puddings.

Voldemort motioned for him to sit, and then took the seat across from him. Then, three of the minions came into the room, leading someone along with them. Draco gasped when he got a good look at her face. It was Ariella! But how did she get here?

Voldemort looked at Ariella with a sick expression. Then, he inclined his head at the two goons.

"I must admit, it was a good idea to bring Ariella this evening," he told them. "This way we can get the two of you prepared for the ceremony." The two men laughed. It was menacing.

At that, Draco nearly gagged on a piece of turkey. "Practice the ceremony? But there aren't any vampires present!"

Voldemort turned to face him. "Gammried recently requested that I dispose of her."

At that moment, Ariella let out a horrible, high-pitched giggle. She seemed to be having the time of her life despite the fact that she was about to die. She began to dance around the room, and she almost reached Draco when one of the men grabbed her around the waist and dragged her back with him.

Suddenly, a fire was lit, and the giggling stopped as Ariella became entranced by the flames. The men let her go, and she began her dance again, this time going closer and closer to the flames with every step, until finally, she was engulfed by them. As the flame surrounded her, the giggling continued, until at the last moment, it became a scream of terror.

Eventually, nothing was left in the grate but a pile of ashes and dinner went on as if nothing had happened. Draco though, was no longer hungry. Now he had only one goal: To get Hermione out and take her away from here, wherever here was. He didn't care what happened to him afterward.