"Up, Granger!"
Hermione felt herself being hauled to her feet rather abruptly, her sleepy state making her weaker against the guard that dragged her out of her cell. She struggled to wake herself up, as she had been enjoying some of the deepest sleep she had gotten in almost a week. They had relented on her torturing, for a while, because her body had gotten too weak to for her to stand, let alone speak when they asked her direct questions.
It had been two days since she was last interrogated, and she feared they assumed she was well enough to face more rounds of vigorous probing.
"What... What's happening?" she asked weakly as the guards pulled her along the corridor, her knees customarily dragging on the ground. Hermione winced when she felt old cuts reopen, but she had gotten used to pain far worse than this.
The guard glanced down at her, then to the other man carrying her before replying, "You've got a special visitor today."
"I-I do?" she inquired, her heart lightening slightly, but only slightly. As the guards yanked her along the cell corridors, she heard the fresh insults flung at them from her inmates, most sympathetic, if not empathetic, for her brutal cause. At first she found their remarks embarrassing, and one day she worried her tormentors would make her suffer more for her 'friends' comments, but she soon noticed that they simply tried to block them out whenever they walked past the noisy cells, so Hermione mentally cheered on their valor.
Her wrists, which were finally feeling better after days of being latched in chains and stretched (a new method of Muggle torture they had decided she was fit to endure), and all this dragging was really starting to make them hurt again. She struggled vainly, trying to dig her bare toes into the dirty cement to slow them down. However, one of her guards turned back and pelted her in the stomach with his shoed foot, expelling all the wind she had in her out. Fresh cries of angry insults were roused from the inmates, and the other guard was forced to silence them magically to end the spell of curses coming out of their mouth.
"Eh!" a man called from the end of the hall, Hermione's head cocking up to look at the familiar voice, "What did I tell you?"
"Draco..." Hermione breathed, her eyes watering as he stormed down the pathway, his eyes narrowing at the guards.
"I told you to go easy on her... Isn't that what I'm paying you for?" Draco snarled, shoving a small jingling sac back into his pocket.
"Piss off, Malfoy."
"What, come to kill her yourself?"
"Filthy Pureblood git-"
Draco too ignored the hail of slurs that were flung his way by the dirty prisoners. Instead, he bent down and gently hoisted her up, awkwardly using his hand to quickly push some of the hair out of her face.
"Hi..." she whispered, curving her arms around his neck, "You don't know how happy I am to see you..."
The biting remarks toward Draco instantly halted, and many of the prisoners watched him in mild shock as he carried Hermione down the hall and out of sight.
"I've missed you," he muttered, stopping at a door that Hermione had never seen before. A masked and robed man pulled it open, grunting to Draco that they had an hour. Hermione frowned, and it deepened as Draco set her down and fished out another coin purse from his pocket, tossing it to the man.
"An hour and a half then."
Hermione rolled her eyes, almost giddy being around Draco and his usual ways once more. He picked her up again, then slipped inside the room, the door slamming behind them and a lock locking noisily. She flinched at the sound, and Draco grinned, "I guess they don't want us running off, eh?"
Hermione giggled weakly, then took in the tiny room Draco had brought them into. There was a double bed located in the corner, and a small lamp hanging across the room from the ceiling, swaying back and forth in a nonexistent breeze.
"Draco?"
"I told them I'd pay for a conjugal visit," he chuckled, setting her down tenderly on the bed and standing back. "Of course they ate up my money like it came from trees..."
"A conjugal visit?" Hermione repeated, disgusted with the idea, "Draco, I'd never shag you in a prison! I'd want our first time to be somewhere special, not-"
"I know you wouldn't want to do anything in here," he soothed, taking a step closer and kneeling beside her, gathering up her dirty hands in his large, clean ones, "I just wanted to talk to you... and the only way to get anywhere private in here was to tell them we were going to have a shag."
Hermione shifted on the bed, her rational side perking up over the need to have real physical contact with someone. Truth be told, she would have let him do anything to her at that point in time. She had been locked away and beaten in a cell for almost two weeks now, and her body was not just aching from pain, but from depravation of any sort of human contact.
"Potter and I had a chat the other day-"
"Harry?" she squeaked, her eyes widening, suddenly hungry for information, "So you two are talking? That's wonderful! How is he doing? Please tell me you've taken him out of your basement-"
"Hermione," he laughed, cutting her questions off quickly. "Let me talk."
"Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly, ashamed at her inquisitiveness. "Go on."
"Well, Annie made me take him for a bloody walk the other day-"
"Annie made you?" Hermione giggled, shaking her head at him, "Oh, she does have you figured out, doesn't she? How did she manage that?"
Draco cleared his throat, suddenly looking away from her, "Well... She started crying, and she wouldn't stop until I... did what she wanted."
Oh, honestly. Annie always knew how to get her way with men. Be it with her uncles, or co-workers of her mother, the little girl already knew how to manipulate them. Lucius would never admit it; even he couldn't resist her little desires when she voiced them.
"Draco, you're weak."
"Shut up, I know... She's my little girl though!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, deciding they needed to get back on task, "So, what happened on this walk with Harry?"
"Right, well," he grinned suddenly, "we talked about you."
"About me?"
"Quite a bit, actually," he chuckled, finally coming up and taking a seat next to her. "About how stupid Weasley was to run off and marry Lovegood... And how you've found someone who'll do anything now to make you happy..."
"I guess I have," she mused coyly, shooting him a look. "So you came all the way down here to tell me something I already know?"
"Not... quite," he said slowly, turning his body in more to face her. "Hermione... Potter said that if trading him for you would work... He... He wants me to do it."
Hermione's heart stopped for a moment, and she had to remind herself to breath. No, there were other ways to get her out. They were giving up too soon; Harry couldn't turn himself over to Voldemort. That was practically a death sentence.
"No."
"No? But, Hermione-"
"No!" she cried, her tone strangled in her throat, "Don't you dare bring him here! It's bad enough that Fred and George are in here, along with Angelina and Katie, who are pregnant! Honestly, get them out before you worry about me! They... They have more to live for."
"Don't say that," he ordered, his tone sobering slightly. "You have plenty to live for. You have me, my children, Potter... Your Order wouldn't want to see such a clever, beautiful witch killed without a cause. A lot of people love you, Hermione."
"But they have a family to rear-"
"And you don't?" Draco demanded, "Hermione, you have something started with me... I wouldn't call it a family... But it's something, don't you think?"
Hermione's eyes watered once more, and she hastily wiped the tears away before they could fall. However, she wasn't quick enough, and she noticed Draco's expression soften as a wet tear rolled down her cheeks, no doubt making the only clean space on her entire face. A sob hitched in her throat, and she turned away, holding a hand over her mouth to keep from full-out bawling in front of him.
She wasn't sure why; she had been rather emotional since being locked away in prison.
"Shh, please don't cry," he mumbled, rubbing her back comfortingly, obviously not sure how to make her feel better properly, "I didn't mean to upset you-"
"It's not you, Draco," she wailed, looking back at him through a blurry vision. "It's this place, it's everything! I haven't showered in ages... My hair looks like a bloody bird has made multiple nests in it. My body is sore and stiff... I can't laugh without something hurting! I miss you, I miss the children... I hate knowing that Harry and I were so close to seeing each other again, and that got taken away. I just hate everything! I smell, I'm tired all the time, I haven't eaten anything but cold chicken for almost two weeks, and no one dares to drink anything in this Hellhole..."
"I know," he hushed, pulling out his wand and performing a few cleaning spells on her, instantly removing the dirt and grim from her skin and under her nails. It felt good to be cleaner, but there was still a sorrow in her heart that she needed him to lift. Human contact.
Her skin was clean, but the rag she wore over it was still filthy, and reeked of blood and sweat. So, in a swift movement she removed it, tossing it on the ground, despite her shyness. Draco's eyes widened, and though she knew he was trying to hold eye contact with her, his blue orbs were slowly drifting down, taking in her naked body. While she had a mild form of underwear on, her bra had been disposed of along with the rest of her previous clothes.
"It's too dirty," she whispered, as if that explained it all, cupping his chin and dragging him down into a kiss, immediately falling into a rhythm. His hands flew up to his own clothes, removing his cloak and setting it aside on the bed, then unbuttoning his white shirt. She wanted to just rip it off and toss it out of the way, but she was shocked that he wrapped it around her shoulders, hoisting her up onto his lap as their pace quickened. She wanted to explore more, but he stilled her hands when they went to the zipper of his pants.
Grunting, she tried to free herself, but he broke the kiss and brought her hands up to his lips, giving them each a soft peck, his voice thick, "Hermione... Not here. You said that you-"
"Draco, I don't care what I said-"
"Well I'm saying it now," he breathed, his chest heaving slightly. "Not here."
She had never really been that promiscuous before, and she was shocked by the way she was acting. However, she didn't feel as embarrassed as she should. Perhaps something about Draco made her forget at least a hint of shyness.
"Fine," she muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Not here."
He nodded, then dipped his head back down, his lips attaching onto her neck possessively. A small giggle escaped from her, and she suddenly let out a laugh when he pressed his teeth against her skin, his hands tickling her as they moved along her mid-section.
After some time, Draco finally just rolled them both back onto the bed, laying on his back as she curled into his chest, a hand stroking her hair delicately. While it wasn't everything she wanted, it was enough for now.
"You don't know how much will power that took..." he grumbled playfully, tilting her chin up to look at him, "It's hard for me to say no to you."
"I don't think that's a bad thing," she mused, inching up and giving him another kiss, "I could use that later... Once I'm out of here."
"I will get you out of here... I promise."
"I know."
"I can announce myself, thank you," Narcissa said briskly, dismissing the Snape house elf as she strode into the house, handing it her cloak. "Is your mistress here?"
"No, Madame," the creature replied, bowing her ugly head slightly. "She went into town to do shopping... Blinky is too old for carrying heavy shopping bags."
"Good," Narcissa muttered, brushing the thing off with a wave of her hand. "That'll be all... Don't wander too far with that, I shan't be staying long, I'm afraid."
"Very good, Madame."
Trust Severus Snape to find the one decent house elf with manners. With a sigh, Narcissa walked the familiar path down to the dungeons, where she was told Severus had been having lessons with her grandchildren. She didn't want to disrupt him, but this business with Ginny would be taken care of in a matter of minutes, and she wouldn't keep him very long from his teaching.
After a short walk down some rather dodgy stairs, Narcissa found herself gazing in at her three grandchildren, all of them bent around a cauldron as Kevin slowly stirred it, watching as the blue potion within slowly started turning green. Snape looked up from his desk, shooting them a glare as a foul odor erupted from their pot, and Eloise hastily added some neutralizing plants, returning the potion back to its previous state.
"Knock knock?" Narcissa called, lightly knocking her fist against the door frame.
Snape's attention turned to her, and he smiled, "Afternoon, Cissa."
"Hello, Severus... Children."
There were a few grunts from the boys, and Eloise smiled up at her, but apparently they were very in to their potion, and as Narcissa knew; the slightest mistake could botch the whole thing.
Severus rose from his desk, then swept over to her, his typical teaching robes billowing as he moved across the dungeon floor, "What can I do for you, Cissa?"
"I was wondering if I could have a quick word, actually," she stated, her eyes flickering to the children to make sure no one was listening. "It won't take long."
"I'm afraid I can't leave them," he informed her, nodding back to the trio. "Should something blow up and someone gets scalded... Well, I'm sure Draco will try to skin me for it."
"Nonsense," Narcissa laughed, rolling her eyes and grasping his hand. "This will only take a moment."
"Cissa-"
She tugged him out of the room, despite his muffled protests. He should know by now that there was no longer any good in arguing with her, since she always made a valiant effort to see that she won even the most trivial of matters.
"What's wrong?" Severus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "You know I can't leave during lessons."
"Like I said before," Narcissa flipped, tucking some hair behind her shoulder. "This won't take long."
"What is it then?"
"It's about Ginny," she started, instantly noticing a flash of annoyance cross his eyes, "and your choice to not allow her to see Harry."
"Don't take offense, Narcissa," he muttered, staring directly at her, "but that is none of your business."
"Excuse me?"
"While I have no problems with you lending a helping hand on most matters, this is between me and my wife, not you."
Oh, so he was going to be like that? Gods, Lucius had given up that sort of attitude years ago.
"Severus, you're being ridiculous," Narcissa continued, her voice a little more firm and less airy than it had been. "Ginny is really upset about this-"
"You gather?"
"And I think it would be best for your marriage if you tried to see things from her point of view," Narcissa ground out, her eyes suddenly narrowing at him. "She misses Harry... Gods, Severus, she misses everyone from that world, and now that her best friend has returned, you won't even let her see him."
"I'm sure she'll survive."
"Stop being stubborn!"
"Stop being nosy."
"I am not being nosy," Narcissa hissed, outraged at the accusation. "I am stating an obvious fact... If you're jealous of Harry, fine-"
"What-"
"If you don't want Ginny to see an ex-boyfriend, fine," Narcissa pressed on, cutting off his snarl, "but you need to tell her that before she does something rash like sneak over and permanently sully the bond you two share."
He stood silent for a moment, contemplating everything she had just said. Perhaps she had finally talked some sense into him. A smug sense of pride struck a nerve, and she cocked an eyebrow, imploring for him to share his thoughts.
"While what you say is rather... true, to some degree," Snape stated, his dark eyes never moving away from hers. "I don't want my wife seeing him, end of story."
"Severus Snape-"
"I'm a grown man, Narcissa," he insisted, overtaking her argument, "and I'll do as I please with my wife. I'll speak to her about it later, but the subject has been beaten to death."
"But... You..." Narcissa let out a growl of frustration, then turned on her heel, figuring she could find another way to make Snape see her point of view.
She heard him chuckle behind her, "Good day, Narcissa... I'll have them home on time today."
"Yes, yes... Good day."
She stalked out of the manor, the cold breeze biting at her skin. There had to be another way to make him see... Someone else needed to speak with him.
A cruel smile spread across her lips; Lucius.
Kevin stared down at his homework planner, then let out a groan. Snape had returned that afternoon from his chat with Kevin's grandmother in a smug, yet irritable mood, and after Shane knocked over a tube of alovera extract, the man assigned a four page essay on the functions of the alovera and why it was used in healing.
Once they were sent home for the day, Eloise retired to her room, ready to start with her homework and Shane sent a letter to Sawyer, asking if she'd like to come over and work on some school stuff together. Much to Kevin's shock, the girl said yes, and was over within fifteen minutes, armed to the teeth with books and paper.
Shane introduced her to the rest of the family, and his grandmother commented on how lovely she was, and Lucius and Draco politely made their acquaintances, but disappeared soon after to the basement, most likely to speak with Potter about something or another. The bloody man had been living in their basement for ages now, yet they hadn't done anything with him. Kevin pondered whether or not they ever planned to, really.
"So what's it like being tutored by your ... uncle?" Sawyer inquired as they sat at the long table in the dining hall, the easiest place for the three to do homework, "He is your uncle, right?"
"Well, he's dad's godfather," Shane stated, scratching his head with the end of his quill. "So I don't know what he is to us... But he's something."
"Kind of the person you have to call uncle because he's a family friend," Kevin informed her, noticing the immediate understanding in her eyes.
The three had been toiling away for almost an hour. While Kevin worked on his essay for Snape, the other two were doing some Potions assignment, and after some time, Eloise toddled downstairs to join them, as she had a similar Potions project of her own in her class.
"Nice to have another girl around," Eloise chuckled as she took a seat next to Kevin. "I'm surrounded by bloody boys all day long..."
"Yeah... I told her she should come over more often ," Shane muttered, causing Sawyer's cheeks to tint slightly. "She still hasn't gotten back to me on that."
"Well, since you asked so nicely... I don't know how I could refuse," Sawyer laughed dramatically, shooting him a coy look before scribbling a number sloppily on her graph. "You guys have such a nice house... My house could fit in here."
"Well, our old one was a bit of a farm house," Kevin said before Eloise could. "So it's like a palace to us, really."
She grinned at him, and though she must have thought Kevin didn't hear it, she whispered to Shane that his brother was simply adorable.
If she thought he was adorable, why didn't other girls? There were a few more female students slowly filtering in from around the United Kingdom. Many of the parents had been afraid to send their children to Hogwarts with Voldemort ruling over it, but when a rather appeasing report on the school was published in the paper, more students were finally sent in.
There was a whole new gaggle of girls in his grade, and in his mind, they were all rather attractive. Unfortunately, none of them seemed interested in him. Of course, they all wanted to be his friend, and he was always asked to sit with them during meal times, but they just wanted him there to make them laugh, not flirt with.
He couldn't help but feel envious, again, of his older siblings. Eloise had a boyfriend, and though they weren't together yet, Kevin was sure Shane and Sawyer would be dating soon. Not a lot of his friends wanted girlfriends, at the moment, but Kevin just wanted someone of the opposite sex to appreciate him on a different level then his other girl friends. There was this sense of loneliness when he looked at his brother and sister. They always did things together; he and Shane were close, but Eloise was closer to him in age, which meant Kevin always had to be with Annie, or act as a third wheel when they wanted to do things.
Sawyer let out a loud giggle as Shane told one of his jokes, one he and Eloise had heard numerous times in the past years, and Eloise rolled her eyes, shooting Kevin a disbelieving look before returning to her work. Kevin watched enviously as Sawyer touched Shane's forearm, then withdrew as she spoke, their eyes locking together. With a sigh, he rose from the table and explained he was just going to go watch some TV in the Muggle room. They bid him farewell, and he gathered up his things, ready to give anything to just trade places with his brother.
Ginny slowly stacked the remainder of the soup cans she had recently purchased into the cupboard, then shut it, handing her shopping bags over to Blinky to put away. The had spent all afternoon trying to find what she needed in that damn Muggle grocery store, and her feet were aching. All she needed now was a nice bath, then bed. After spending so much time around food, she really wasn't in the mood to have any sort of dinner.
"You know..." Snape chuckled, leaning back against the kitchen door, a discontent expression on his face, "I think that was a rather low blow today."
Frowning, she turned back to look at him, then folded her arms, "Excuse me?"
"Bringing in Narcissa to try and sway me to let you see Harry," he stated, his eyes narrowing. "Devious, but I'm afraid it didn't work."
"Narcissa offered to speak with you over lunch the other day," Ginny snarled, barely noticing as her house elf scampered out of the room, obviously sensing the churning fight. "I did not ask her to do anything."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, Severus," she hissed, shifting her weight to one leg, expression equally as sour as her husband. "Don't think I'm desperate for outside help... I know how to handle you."
"Ha, somehow I doubt that."
Irritated, and tired, Ginny stalked toward the door, slipping past him and into the hallway, her mind set on just going off to her room and locking him out for the night. He was being so bloody stupid about the whole thing, and while she would be willing to compromise somehow, he wouldn't allow any of it. Instead, he saw fit to act like a child.
"You know what?" she growled, stopping and turning back to see he was following her, "The real reason I had lunch with Narcissa was because I thought if I spent another full day in this damn house with you, I'd be forced to kill you!"
"Come, come, Ginny, no need for dramatics-"
"I'm not being dramatic," she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm willing to be bloody reasonable with you, Severus, but you're just being some stupid, stubborn twit who thinks his way is the only way!"
"Ginny, you are not seeing Harry," Snape reiterated, standing squarely before her. "He's a criminal, and as you've noticed, anyone caught associating with him is sent off to Azkaban... The Malfoys are risking a lot keeping him in there, and I don't want anything to get linked back to you in the end."
"Don't be paranoid," Ginny flipped, rolling her eyes. "Speaking with the man for ten minutes won't send me into Azkaban-"
"But withholding information about a known criminal will!"
"Yeah, well I don't plan on speaking with anyone who works in the Ministry about it, all right? So nothing is getting put back on me."
"Everything would be-"
"Stop trying to get me away from my point!" she shrieked, her nostrils flaring, "This is about you not letting me see my best friend... You're being inconsiderate and a bloody tyrant, and Merlin help you, Severus Snape, because I won't stand for it much longer!"
Her breathing was heavy as she glared at him, her hands resting on their usual spot on her hips. Snape pinched the bridge of his noise, closing his eyes in frustration and letting out a sigh, "Ginevra... I love you very much, but you're driving me to madness!"
"Well, if you really loved me... You'd understand how much this means to me... How much Harry means to me."
He opened his mouth to say something, but fell short, slipping into a silent brood. Sick of waiting for another flippant remark, Ginny stormed off to bed, slamming the door to her bedroom with all her might, a fresh batch of tears in her eyes.