Darkness crept over the Malfoy manor. Long halls were lightened only by few candles here or there. It seems that Tristan is rather old-fashioned. He was intrigued by the house itself. Every particular detail fitted perfectly, yet never got lost in the shadow of full picture. He also loved the way his steps would ring through the walls. This evening another pair of feet stepped after him, dragging delirious Kai, back down to the basement. Tristan walked with his companion, Aya Al-Rashid.

When they reached the wanted place, Tristan opened the door and held them as the woman easily dropped Kai aside, chaining him to the wall. Next to him, Theo glared at her, but her face stayed motionless. She simply smirked and glanced over to Stiles, and then to Draco and Hermione. Two were close to each other. He was in a bit of a hard place ever since Bella visited. She leaned on the wall and he rested his head in her lap. The moment Aya and Tristan came in everyone got up, even Draco. He was still weak on his feet, but it wasn't as bad as before.

Tristan's soft smile disappeared the moment he saw Draco's hand around Hermione's shoulders. She helped his stand straight. He stepped towards them. The same moment Aya gave a stern look to Theo and Stiles, showing them to keep quiet. Tristan's eyes burned with anger, yet his posture remained classy and calm.

He stepped to them, making Hermione move away from Draco. Tristan passed the boy and stopped in front of her. His hand gently reached to her cheek. Tristan heard her racing heart clearly in his ears.

"Not scared of me, are you?" he spoke with a smile.

"No."

"Good. I don't want you to be." He planted a kiss on her forehead. Her eyes shot close, but she could hear the way Draco's jaw clenched. She hoped that he would stay still, but when she opened her eyes she saw Aya right behind him, holding him in place. Woman had her hands wrapped around his wrists. Tristan took a step away and smiled at her.

"You'll be going with me now, darling." He grabbed her hand and then turned to Aya. "We are taking the troublemaker, too. And don't forget to pin the needle back to the hybrid." He said and left with Hermione.

When the doors closed Aya let go of Draco. She waited until Tristan was far enough to get to Stiles. He was more than aware of the risk she was in so he waited for her to do what she planned. First she put Kai back on vervain and then checked the door once more. No one was around.

"You have to be really quiet." She got back to Stiles and fed him her blood. She glanced at Theo. "I can't heal you. Werewolf bite kills a vampire." Theo nodded.

"Why are you helping?" Draco asked limping closer to them.

"Long story and we are short on time. Tomorrow night, Niklaus is coming for you. Try and stay alive." She explained and watched as Draco's face changed. "We need to go now." She opened the door and they left the room, leaving Stiles and Theo in dark with unconscious vampire.

As Draco walked through the halls of his house chills went down his spine. It wasn't a home for a while now. It was cold and empty. This old house meant nothing to him. All the horrible things that happened in here haunted him in his dreams. All the screams, the pain, the blood, everything in this place was rotten and vile.

"Stay calm. These people don't care about anything. One wrong move and you lose your head." Aya's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"He is getting to close to her."

"He will not hurt her. He is obsessed with her. But he will end you if he sees, for even a second, that you care for her or that she cares for you." Draco didn't answer. He knew she was right. They walked in silence till they reached a very familiar place to Draco. When she opened the door he found his way and saw Hermione sitting on the bed with Tristan by the window. Aya closed the door after him and left. In a blink of an eye Tristan shoved his palm over Draco's face forcing vampire blood down his throat. His bruises and cuts started healing and he found it easier to stand on his feet. Tristan pushed him away turning around to Hermione. He walked towards her and she got up.

"You promised me, Hermione." He smiled.

"You can heal me tonight, at the dinner." She said sternly.

"As you wish. Someone will bring you the dress for tonight." Once again he kissed her forehead. He deeply bowed and then left.

She weakly smiled at confused Draco and sat back down. He looked around the room. Everything was exactly the same as he left it. He gazed over the bed to finally spot the violin. He got to the counter and picked it up. He ran his thumb over the strings and the sounds filled the room. He could feel her eyes on him. He quickly put the violin down and got the piece of paper. He searched for anything to write with. He picked up a chalk and started writing. He gave her a paper and motioned to stay silent.

When Hermione took a paper in her hands her face changed and her eyes went wide open. 'Klaus is coming tomorrow.' She read the sentence a hundred times, before taking the paper in the bathroom and letting the water over it until it was completely destroyed.

"You have to keep your mind closed now." Draco said when she came back inside. He was sitting where she did before, so she sat next to him. Her head rested against his shoulder.

"We are leaving." She muttered to herself, before closing her eyes.

"So... he is a hybrid siphoner?" Theo observed Kai's features.

"Yes that's him." Stiles retorted.

"He doesn't look like much."

"Well neither do you." Once again Stiles felt irritated conversing with Theo. "Why are you even here?" he snapped.

"Well I tried to get to you and Lydia and got kidnapped." Theo sassed.

"Wow. Ok. Fine." Stiles paced around nervously. "It's already frustrating to be in the same room with you, at least try to be bearable."

"You're not really sunshine either." Theo rolled his eyes.

"I give you three times to guess why not." Stiles stood in front of tied wolf. "Or maybe tell me why were you so eager to come with us?"

"I want to help. Is that so hard to believe?" Theo explained sincerely.

"Did you really just ask that? Is it that hard to believe you? You almost broke us all apart. You tried to kill Scott. You made Liam almost kill Scott. You sent Lydia into a mental institution. Do you want me to keep going? Because I can." Stiles waved his hands.

"That is true, but I am trying right now. Maybe you should cut me some slack, because it's not really unicorns and rainbows, you know. Slow down. Take a look at where I am right now. Chained to the wall in the middle of some old house. I am probably plotting something big this time. Let your brilliant mind take some rest." Theo spat.

"For the love of God shut up." Third voice joined in making two railed up guys turn around. Rather weak posture of Kai Parker appeared in the dark corner. He managed to sit up, but his eyes were blurry and the buzzing in his years was even worse. He had trouble remembering what happened. Pain was excruciating, but he found a way to slowly overcome it. That was when the memories started recapping. But he suddenly jumped.

"Where is Bonnie?" His voice almost cracking.

"Aurora took her somewhere, right after you. What happened up there?" Stiles was worried.

"No. no, no, no..." Kai kept repeating under his breath. He tried his best to concentrate his senses. With all the vervain in his system he managed to hear the distant sounds of cries and whimpers, then the screams, and the wheel just kept spinning. His face got livid. Both Theo and Stiles thought he was going mad. "You can't hear her?" He asked Theo in a whisper. Theo rolled his head. Then he glanced at Stiles.

"Who do you hear?" Stiles came close to him.

"Bonnie. She is hurt. She is crying. We... I have... I have to do something... Anything." His eyes turned into crimson red and the fangs made Stiles stumble backwards. Kai started pulling on the chains. It didn't make any difference. He was too weak to break free. He knew it, but it didn't stop him. Chains kept ringing and he kept growling in pain as blood dripped down his wrists. Magic was out of the question too.

Stiles seemed terrified by the picture. To terrified to even move. Theo watched with his eyes wide open. All the noise went off when a redhead woman entered the room. Kai glared at her with his red eyes, still puling on his chains.

"Wasn't it you who found it 'cool' when I was under Draco's curse?" Aurora grinned. With one punch she made a weak heretic hit the cold ground. She knelt over him, picking him by the collar. "Oh, no we are not done yet. I want to you to welcome back an old friend." Inside came Alecto Carrow sharing the same grin with Aurora. "She will keep you company for a while. And don't worry, Bonnie is only having a bit of a conflict with her past. Can't you hear her? A heavenly sound of a screaming Bennett witch."

She smiled politely at Alecto who started firing curses at wounded hybrid. Aurora, on the other side, found her way to Stiles who kept backing away. When he reached the dead end, his eyes locked with a woman in front of him. She traced his cheekbone with her fingers, before speaking.

"I hope lovely Lydia comes to get you. Boy do I have a surprise for her." She exhaled and her fist met Stiles's cheek. Strikes followed one after another. When she finally left, Stiles could feel his head pounding so loud and hard. His face was completely covered with his own blood. A ripped cut was visible from his nose, over the cheek to the corner of his eye. Another one was painted over his upper lip. Stiles felt his consciousness slipping as the void sound of Theo's voice became more distant and distant.

Hermione slowly shifted to her left. She felt numb pain in her head, and struggled to open her eyes. When she did, she met with Draco's worried expression. He held her hand in his while she observed around. She lied in the bed with Draco sitting by her side. She tried to sit up but she was way too tired.

"Don't get up." He gently leaned her back onto the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"What happened?" she asked covering her face with her palms.

"You fainted."

"That explains the headache."

"You do have some masochistic tendencies, don't you?" He noted.

"What?" She looked at him confused.

"He offered to heal you and you declined." It was getting obvious that he was a bit angry.

"I have my reasons." She firmly stated, as he moved away from the bad and to the window. Draco gazed outside. It was getting darker and the night was coming to them. For some reason he felt unease. Was it the idea of Hermione spending more time with Tristan, was it fear for his mother, or for Caroline, or for everyone else in here, or was it from everything combined, he couldn't really tell. He could only feel anger building up inside.

"Do share, Granger." He said without looking at her.

"It makes him feel bad. I also don't want to do it because there are more people down there who need it. I am not any different." She recited.

"It makes him feel bad? He is a psychopath, he can't feel by definition." He mocked with a pain in his voice. "I would like to correct myself, not masochistic, a martyr complex."

"I do not have a martyr complex." She sat up. "It's called sympathy." Hermione spat.

"Great. I hope you feel good about yourself then." Draco barked.

"Feel good about myself?" She yelled, making him turn around. She was up on her feet and coming towards him. Draco had his hands crossed over his chest. "If it wasn't for me, none of this would've happen, so yes, Draco, I feel amazing." While she spoke Draco's face changed. He closed his eyes, mentally punching himself for saying such a thing. He ran his hands over his face, biting strongly on his lower lip. His hands rushed through his hair and his eyes opened.

Hermione held to the edge of the bed, when she felt like she was losing her balance. The vertigo kicked in again and the whole room started spinning. Sounds were becoming distant and muffled. Just when she thought she was going to hit the floor the pair of hands grabbed her and lifted her up. Once again she was placed gently on the bed. After few moments she started feeling better, and her vision started to clear. He sat next to her, just like before, with a same worried face on.

By the bed, Draco found a piece of cloth. He soaked it in water and lightly caressed her face with it. She lifted herself up and leaned over to his shoulder. Draco dropped the cloth and loosely placed his hands around waist. "It's not your fault that all of them are insane. You can't possibly be responsible for Aurora, or Tristan or Lucien. It was just bad luck. And now you are simply stuck. Bad things happen every day, but we live through them. You will too."

Her arms hardened the grip on his shirt and his face sank into the crock of her neck. She rested against him for a while, before slowly backing a bit.

"How in the world is it possible for someone to change this much?" She asked and watched as he changed his expression to that emotionless mask. That was the last thing he wanted to talk about. Guilt, pain, death. In his case mostly guilt. So much guilt.

"The moment you realize you can't stand to look at your own reflection in the mirror, that's about right time to start doing something different." He said lowering his look. She was about to say something, but he cut her off. "Can we talk about something else?" She nodded and went to get up from the bed. As soon as her feet reached the floor, Draco took her by the hand and pulled her back on the bed. "You are not going anywhere. Merlin, you can be difficult."

"Fine then." She said and leaned back onto him. Draco actually smiled. He held her for a while and she almost fell asleep, when Aya barged in. Both of them just watched her. Her face was stern just as was her posture. She simply placed the long black dress on the bed.

"Put it on." She said and left. Hermione stared at the dress with so much disgust on her face. It made her feel sick thinking that she had to be alone with Tristan again. But it would soon be over, so she can get through it. She lifted herself up.

"You aren't dizzy?" Draco asked and she waved her head in no. So he let go of her. Hermione took the dress and went into the bathroom. In approximately fifteen minutes she was out. The dress was spotless black, tight till her knees and then it widened in the shape of mermaid's tail. It had long sleeves and half-open back. It hanged a bit loosely around her waist.

Even with her bruised and injured face she was insanely beautiful. It was the only thing that crossed Draco's mind while he stared at her. She was stunning. As she walked out she moved her hair to the side and then she finally looked at him. A small smirk appeared on her face, but was instantly gone. She tried to pull the zipper on the back of the dress, but wasn't able to.

"Could you please?" She asked turning around. He got to his feet and stood behind her. He slowly pulled the zipper up. She turned around and met his eyes. She felt as if the air was punched out of her. Her eyes roamed over his face stopping at his eyes, before they caught his lips. She remembered how it felt to kiss him. Unknowingly she started biting her lower lip.

"Salazar, you are making this difficult." He whispered, gently tracing his thumb over the edge of her lower lip before laying his lips over hers. In same second she placed her hands around his neck and started playing with his hair. His other hand went around her waist and he pulled her up to him almost lifting her of the ground. He angled her head to the side deepening the kiss. Intoxicated with the taste of each other they stumbled to the side and broke the kiss. Draco held her firmly in his hands with his head at the crook of her neck. She could feel his smile on her skin. She planted a small kiss under the angle of his jaw.

"They are all going to be so disappointed in you." Draco Malfoy actually giggled.

"I don't care." She answered, holding onto him like he was air and she was gasping for breath.

"Well, well, well..." Both of them jumped at the sound of a familiar voice, meeting the devilish smirk on the man by the door. They parted, with her hand in his. "You look absolutely dashing, Love." Said Lucien. "Take a seat. Both of you."