It seemed to Harry that time stopped after Remus informed him and Ron of the goings-on at the Clan castle.
"What did Dumbledore have to say about things?" he asked quietly. "Did he suggest where Hermione might be, or did he have any ideas?"
Remus turned his gaze away from the boys and locked eyes with the sunset for a long moment. Then, he said quietly "don't worry, you two. Dumbledore says there's still hope. No one who has Hermione now would dare kill her or even hurt her because of all that's at stake. He says he's going to go back to Hogwarts to ponder things, as it seems that the vampires have done a very good job of covering their tracks. The rest of us are going to room in the castle until he tells us otherwise to see if we can find any clues there as to where the vampires might have gone." He paused and smiled weakly. "I know this probably won't be much comfort to either of you, but remember, Draco is with her, he knows where she is, and I bet he will contact us if either of them get into any real danger. Now, we have to meet the others before they start worrying about us."
Harry and Ron looked at each other for a moment, then followed Remus worriedly to the Clan castle, the temporary headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
After the disposal of Ariella, dinner continued as normal, though Draco couldn't eat a thing. The darkened room, brightened only slightly by the dim fire, still smelled of Ariella's burnt flesh, and her scream of terror still rang in his ears. After she'd finished burning, the goons had stepped forward and taken charge of the ashes, not even bothering to dispose of them properly. Instead, they'd merely swept them into a tidy pile and left the pile sitting inconspicuously next to the table. Draco couldn't stop looking at it, although he knew he had to. At least he didn't see any fragments of bone in the pile. A sound suddenly snapped Draco out of his concentration.
"Are you not hungry, young Malfoy?" the Dark Lord asked him, frowning at his nearly full plate. "From what I've heard, you haven't eaten all day. Why do you deny yourself now?"
Draco's eyes widened, then he quickly grabbed his fork and began shoveling potatoes into his mouth. Silence filled the room again. Suddenly, one of the goons came running in looking panicked.
"My Lord, the sacrifice has awakened! What should be done?"
Voldemort rose gracefully from his chair and glided over to the man, who was big and beefy and red. The red serpent eyes narrowed, and in the time it took Draco to blink, the Dark Lord had one hand around the man's neck and was holding on to his wand with the other.
"Did I not specifically instruct you," hissed Voldemort softly, "to enchant the girl so that she would not wake up under any circumstances?"
The man groaned and shuddered. He tried to nod in agreement, but the hold on his neck made that nearly impossible. Finally, Voldemort produced his wand and pointed it neatly between the man's eyes.
"Avada Kedavra," he whispered softly, then carelessly threw the dead man on the ground. As Draco watched all this, he realized that the only way to get out of this hell on earth alive was to be in good with the Dark Lord; become his friend. He watched as Voldemort came back and sat himself at the table.
"It's so hard to find good help nowadays," Draco commented lightly. Voldemort gave him a scant glance.
"A man who does not know he is a fool must be taught," he replied. "If he doesn't learn, he must pay the ultimate price. I do not think foolishness an admirable quality in those that assist me."
Draco nodded, then said quietly, "what will be done with the girl?"
Voldemort looked pensive for just a moment, then looked back at Draco. "I suppose you wonder why you have been brought here, young Malfoy," he said. "Your family were loyal followers of mine until this incident occurred. I know you know where they are."
Draco nodded.
"However," Voldemort continued, "since you seem to be so well-connected to the girl, I want you to keep watch over her here. Do you know the proper spells to keep her contained?"
Draco nodded, suddenly feeling light. "Yes, my Lord.
Voldemort nodded satisfactorily. "Very well. If you have no desire to eat anything else, go back to the Dungeons and tell the guards there that the sacrifice is to be woken up. You will then place the Imperious Curse upon her, thus putting her under your control until you receive further instructions."
Draco nodded slowly as his insides shattered. To watch over Hermione until the ceremony was one thing. To put the Imperius curse on her was another. He laughed softly and bitterly to himself. At this time last year, such an order would have pleased him, but now, it seemed wrong. She couldn't even fight back.
Even so, he gave Voldemort a deep bow and hurried away from the dining hall and back to the dungeons. There, he found the guards deep in slumber. He rapped them sharply on their heads and they each woke up quickly, muttering obscenities at him under their breaths.
"I have been ordered to come here and get the girl," Draco stated. "The Dark Lord insists that she be moved to a different area, and that duty has been assigned to me."
The guards were not foolish enough to try and stop him. Instead, they watched as he picked up the blinking girl and carried her out of the dungeon.
As soon as he was clear of it, Draco began to search for any empty place where he could place Hermione. Finally, he found an empty bedroom and placed her on the floor.
He waited a moment, and was relieved when she opened her mouth to speak, but he put up a hand and she paused as he ran to close the door, and to check and see if there was anyone around to overhear them. Seeing no one in the halls outside the room, he shut the door and came back looking satisfied.
Hermione looked around the room confusedly. "Draco, where are we?"
Draco followed her eyes. "We aren't at the Clan castle anymore. We've been moved to another building, but I'm not quite sure where. It seems very out of the way though.
Hermione nodded. "What's been going on? What happened after we got here?"
"Well," Draco began reluctantly, "I believe I was woken up almost immediately after we arrived. The Dark Lord has assigned me to watch over you as he believes the others here to be incompetent. And there's one more thing: Ariella has been killed."
"What?" Hermione put a hand to her mouth as tears gathered in her eyes. "How did it happen?"
Draco looked away. "The Dark Lord wanted his goons to have some practice before the ceremony, and apparently, Gammried ordered for Ariella to be disposed of. They threw her in a fire and that was that. Well, actually, they didn't throw her in the fire; she was so far gone she sort of got herself into it, but-"
"Stop," Hermione said softly, "I don't want to hear anymore. Anything else I should know?"
Draco sighed. "Yes. The Dark Lord is very worried now. Your waking up from the goons' control has made him want to take more extreme measures to keep you away from the world until the feast."
Hermione's eyes widened. "How extreme is he planning?"
Draco squirmed uncomfortably and opened his mouth a couple of times, hoping that he would be able to get the words out. It didn't work. Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Thinking it was one of the Death Eaters coming to check up on him, he panicked and whipped out his wand, pointing it at Hermione who was looking at him, stunned. Putting every ounce of force into the word, he said "Imperio!"
When Harry, Ron and Remus arrived at the castle, they were met by Mrs. Weasley who was looking frantic. Ron looked at her, surprised. She hadn't come with them.
"Where'd you come from, Mum?" he asked.
Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "Never you mind where I came from. The two of you gave us a terrible fright. We'd thought you'd been lost."
"We're all here safe Molly, don't worry," Remus said, coming up behind her.
Harry looked around. "Where do you think all the vampires went? I didn't even realize they'd moved."
Remus collapsed into a chair, accepting the cup of tea that Mrs. Weasley offered him. "They probably went to another one of their hideouts to make plans for the feast, Harry. This isn't the only place they meet, and I believe they're starting to sense that someone is on to them."
Suddenly, an owl soared through the window, landing neatly on the table beside Remus's chair. He looked at it for a moment, then took the scroll from it's leg.
"It's from Dumbledore!" he announced loudly. "He knows where Voldemort has taken Hermione!"
He put the paper down on the little table in front of him, and Harry saw only a few words.
Ramstock Tower, the woods.
