Chapter 37
Dear Diary,
That night I failed to get even a wink of sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Voldemort attacking my parents. At around 6 AM, I started roaming the Manor, perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps out of insomnia. That's not the point.
You see, as my feet led me down staircase after staircase, I began hearing voices. Someone was begging, crying, screaming.
I picked up my pace, running down these stairs. I wasn't sure how I was going to help whoever was down there without a wand but my Gryffindor courage urged me forward nonetheless, my philosophy being act now, think later.
"You fell in love," I heard a cruel voice say as I got closer and closer.
There was a long pause, filled with pain filled sobs and heavy breathing before I heard the unmistakable voice of Larissa Williams. "Yes," she responded.
The sound of a whip slashing through the air before finally meeting with what was probably her skin rang through my ears. Then another loud cry sounded.
"Twice?" the cold voice asked.
Another sob came. "Twice." Her response was followed with yet another two sounds of the whip, in quick succession. And so, being the fool I was, I decided to help out.
I ran into the room, none too graceful of course, and found Larissa laying on the floor in a fetal position. Voldemort was standing over her, holding the whip.
"Stop," I told him forcefully. Or so I hoped, anyway.
He turned around slowly to face me. His cold eyes burned right through mine and I had to hold back a shudder. "Ah, Miss Granger," he laughed. "Our meeting was not scheduled until later this afternoon. Well I guess now is as good a time as any. Let me introduce myself. I am Lord Voldemort. Might I say, I'm quite pleased to hear of your relationship with young Malfoy. You'll be quite an asset when you join me."
"That part is still in negotiations," I growled out. "But right now, I'd like to know...No! I DEMAND to know what's going on here."
He let out yet another cold laugh. "Yes, of course. I love a dominant woman. You'll be a marvelous addition to my ranks!"
"Enough side chatter," I heard myself holler. "I want some bloody answers and I want them now. Are you or are you NOT trying to torture this girl to death?"
Larissa moved on the floor, struggling to rise to her feet. When she finally managed the task, her cold eyes bore into me, just like his, as she said, "Your eyes are deceiving you, Granger. Perhaps you need more sleep?"
This earned another cold laugh from Voldemort. "You see now, Miss Granger? Even my most treacherous of servants are loyal on the brink of death."
His whip slashed down upon her as if to emphasize his last word and she crashed to the floor on her hands and knees, letting out a cry of anguish. "She knows she deserves this," he continued. "After all, falling in love with a boy - the boy - who stole thirteen years from me is not a forgivable crime!"
"Well technically neither is the Cruciatus Curse but rumor has it, you're quite fond of that one," I snapped, rushing to Larissa so I could attempt to help her up.
She pushed me away, however, with all the strength she had left. "Not too bright, are you?" she asked me. "I'm fine. I require no help from you or anyone else for that matter. I dug my own grave. It's time that I sleep in it. Besides, once you hit a thousand, death seems to be a relief." She rose once more, on her own.
A low cackled echoed off the walls. "Death for you, my pet, is not an option," Voldemort said. "Not yet, anyway. First, you will make up for all your wrong doings."
She bowed her head in submission before responding. "Of course, my Lord. How can I make this right? I shall do whatever it is you ask of me."
"Good pet," he smiled cruelly. "Now Lucius, being the wonderful servant that his is, is having a get together tonight. All of my most loyal servants will be here and it's time I repay them for that loyalty. Don't you agree?'
I heard her suck in a deep breath before responding, "Yes, My Lord."
"Good. Then I will send them down here later. If you displease them though, death will NEVER come. You'll be stuck here forever as a whore, a pet to be toyed and played with. Understood?"
"Of course, my Lord."
"How DARE you!" I raged. "You're even lower than I thought if you are going to allow this girl to be sexually assaulted time and time again."
"Granger don't..."
"If you think I'm going to sit back and let this happen, you've got another thing coming, Mister! I may not be able to do anything right now but just you wait until Harry hears about this! He's going to..."
Before I knew what was happening I heard the whip slashing the air once more and then the sting hit me. I fell on my knees as I felt the end of the whip rip through my shirt and hit my flesh. I let out a guttural cry of anguish and pain.
"Do not threaten me, Miss Granger," he sighed. "I don't take well to threats. You'll find that when you join my ranks, a whipping is the least of your worries."
Still on my knees, I turned my head to face him with a pure evil look in my eyes. "Give me a wand and I'll give you a funeral. I can promise you that."
The whip hit me once more and I felt tears spring to my eyes. The sound of his chuckle rang in my ears. "I just told you this! Threatening me and patronizing me will get you nowhere except locked up down here, in the dungeons, with Miss Williams over there."
I got on my feet and approached him. My eyes looked into his and I can swear I saw hell. The wind flew around me and I just wanted to hide. "You're nothing," I finally told him in a voice no more than a whisper, praying my courage pulled me through this. "Your parents never loved you, let alone wanted you. You were an unwanted child from the start and that's what this is really all about. You want your servants to be loyal and show you the love and respect that you never had growing up. Well that's pathetic.
"You want to whip me? Go right ahead. You want to kill me? So be it. At least I'll die with true love in my heart. I'll die knowing that my parents loved me, as did my friends. I'll die knowing that their love was true and not something I forced them into. So go on then. Kill me. Beat me. Do whatever you like. I'll win either way."
He growled angrily and pushed me to the floor. "What a fool! I'm impressed, Miss Granger. Truly." He was circling around me now like a predator circles his prey. "You bravery is so genuine. You don't even think before you act, do you? Truly a magnificent trait. One that I value amongst my servants. But a caution to this wonderful quality of yours. Your heart is too big for your words. You couldn't handle the things you suggest. Torture? A whip is nothing compared to the destruction of compassion. I'll take away everything. You have Lucius using your parents, correct? Ha! That's only because he's too afraid to use his own son!"
"NO!" I heard myself scream before I had a chance to think. I was standing again but I knew that all it would take was another slash of the whip to bring me down once more.
"Oh yes," he basked in his triumph. "Defy me again, Gryffindor. I - Dare - You!"
The words, those last three words, hung in the air, taunting me, daring me and for the second time in all my years as a witch, I was paralyzed.
DRACO'S P.O.V.
I couldn't find Granger all day long. I asked father and he just told me she was safe with the Dark Lord and that I would see her that evening. I drove myself bonkers not knowing what had happened to her, even though I was pretty sure they wouldn't do anything to her. They wanted her as a Death Eater, a spy for their twisted plans. They wouldn't kill her yet.
At around seven, our doorbell rang and I got the shock of my life. There stood Mr. And Mrs. Granger with smiles on their faces. "Happy Christmas!" Mrs. Granger greeted me. "Oh it's so good to finally meet you, Draco! Last letter I got from Hermione, just about a week ago, she said you were quite the charmer. She couldn't wait to introduce us!'
I smiled and led them into our living room. "Pleasure to meet you," I finally said as my father and mother entered. The pleasantries went on for a while, all the adults chattering back and forth.
"Oh Mr. Malfoy, I'm so glad you invited us," Hermione's mother beamed. "I must say, I've been anxious to meet your son. I've heard extremely mixed things about him from the boys."
"Well Potter and Weasley tend to talk too much," I huffed. "I'll bet all they ever do is put me down. Not like they have enough brains between the two of them to start up an intelligent conversation."
"Now Draco," my mother scolded with a laugh. "Be nice. Those boys are your girlfriend's friends. It's a package deal, sweetheart. You want the girl, you get the sidekicks. It's how it always works."
"That's for certain," Mrs. Granger agreed. "When I met my husband, he had these two best friends, Nicholas and Sandra. I hated those two with a passion. We were always disagreeing. Finally, he told me they were a part of his life that I was just going to have to deal with it. Now today, we're all best friends."
Then there was more banter before the big, most important, and most obvious question was asked. "Where's Hermione?"
"Hermione wasn't feeling too well," Father said. "She was napping when you arrived. She should be awake by now. Draco, please go and see if she's up, won't you?"
The look he gave me told me where to find her. I ran down the stairs, jumping sections when possible, going as fast as I could. I heard the crying before I even reached the last set of stairs.
The sight I finally came upon made me shutter. It was an image of me, lying dead upon the floor, blood pooling around my head.
Hermione was collapsed in the middle of the floor, crying. I ran to her and shielded her eyes from the sight before her. "It's okay," I told her. "It's not real. I'm right here." I reached for my wand to make the boggart disappear but my shock, my wand was nowhere to be found.
The image of my dead body then vanished before I heard faint whispers. I looked around the room and that's when I realized what was going on. The entire population of Death Eaters were gathered in the dungeons, circling Hermione and myself.
"Funny things, those muggles are," I heard my father laugh as he made his way down the stairs. "It seems they can't take their liquor. Or maybe it was just the sleeping draught I mixed in. I can never be sure."
"What did you do with them?" I screamed, rising to my feet as Hermione continued to sob silently.
"They're asleep," he replied calmly. "I have them contained in one of our many luxurious guest rooms. Don't worry, Draco. Floppy is treating them well."
"I ought to kill you for this."
"Yes but then not only would her parents die, but most likely you would too."
I then decided to take in my surroundings further. To the left, a fire was going with two branding irons sticking out. My head snapped to face my father and he just smiled.
"If you both behave, only one will be used. It is the mark of a faithful servant of the Dark Lord, otherwise known as the Dark Mark."
"And the other?"
"It's a generic servitude brand - sexual servitude, to be used for physical pleasure alone. A slave. But know this, son. What one gets, the other gets, so you may want to talk amongst yourselves before making your choice. But you both get the Dark Mark regardless. The slave brand would be an addition."
I looked to Hermione and we both knew we had no choice. I saw her arms shake and tremble in fear and my heart sank in my chest. "I wish things were different," I told her. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
"The day I blame you is the day the world ends," she laughed weakly. "As long as you're all safe."
"No," I said to her. "As long as YOU'RE safe. My safety means nothing." I kissed her rose colored cheek ever so lightly before facing the Death Eaters...and my father. "Let her free. Take me. Only me."
He laughed at me once more. Why is it that all the bad guys ever do is laugh? "Draco, we get you anyway," he said. "What a foolish suggestion! Why did you think I would go for that?"
"Because my way, you'll have at least one faithful servant." I was being bold and I knew it but there was no other choice. Hermione couldn't be a Death Eater. It wasn't in her blood.
"Don't you think we've thought of this already? We've decided that we'll be keeping the Granger's here for a while, keep you both under control. We're also going to give you a special Imperious Curse - modified by none other than Mr. Severus Snape. It'll be in effect while you're in school."
Before I could respond, I felt a tugging on my arm. It was Hermione. Her eyes were wide and her hands were cold. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked me. "We're in this together. I won't let you get the mark while I walk out of this free as a bird. Your father is right. If you get the mark, I get the mark. So stop trying to be the hero here. I don't need a hero. I need you."
"Hermione..."
"No! I won't hear it." She turned to face my father with a bold face. "We'll go along with whatever it is you wish tonight," she announced. "You want us to get the mark? Fine. We'll even be loyal, if that is what you demand. But I have one condition."
"And what exactly is that?" my father asked with a smile.
"Well actually, it's more like two," Hermione said with a face so cute, so confident, I almost forgot the situation we were in. "The first condition is that you must let Larissa go, no sexual favors for the boys let alone any other form of torture you can think up."
"That may be possible," Father said. "And what is this second condition, Miss Granger? Let us hope it is not asking too much. Your first request was big enough."
"Draco can't become an immortal. If he gets bit, the Dark Mark disappears and we're done. I don't care what you had planned for your family, Lucius. Draco is mine and I won't have him becoming a vampire just so your stupid family can live on forever."
"Miss Granger, this deal we have with the Williams' has nothing to do with you."
"Except one day, I'm going to be a part of this family," she replied. "One day, even if we haven't gotten engaged yet, Draco and I are going to get married. And I don't want the potential father of my children to be a vampire. So that's my second condition. Deal with it."
A/N I know I haven't updated in a while. I hope no one gave up on me though. I just got a new job and I've been away a lot, so I haven't really been able to update but I hope you guys enjoy.