a/n: Thanks so much for reading and to those who took the time to review. By the way, I highly recommend y'all check out a documentary on youtube or elsewhere about what happened in Russian history, like starvation, genocide and attacking farmers, right before communism took over. The Bolsheviks were pure evil and did not actually care about the common people or peasants. They caused millions to die, killed or starved, everything taken away from them. In current day china and russia people arent even allowed to follow any religion, none, even though it hurts no one, they don't even have that choice. Very evil. What's happening in the world right now is really scary and shares some parallels. If you value your freedom and not being starved on purpose, I'd try to learn from the past, so it does not happen again and not in the West or anywhere else. The west has many problems and is hugely corrupt, i know i'm a westerner, but we still had some minimum freedoms until recently...but how much longer will that last? There are people more evil than Voldemort running this planet unfortunately :(

~O~

By the late morning, or whatever time it currently was in central Russian time, Hermione awoke again, this time with Dolohov awake and staring at her. His dark hair fell over his eyes and the corner of his mouth pulled up in a smirk as he lay next to her. His pillow was tucked under one of his bulging arms, as he held his head up. He looked...he looked absolutely ravishing, she had to admit to herself and that made waking up to this Death Eater even more awkward.

"V'you slept in," Antonin Dolohov said.

Hermione winced. She hated that Antonin was looking right at her, almost eager. Had he been watching her while she slept? She hoped not. Though she hardly looked or felt any better now that she was awake. She was hardly a spring daisy in the morning, her hair was probably a mess and her face puffy.

She grimaced in the strong light of morning. "I woke up before you," she told him a bit crossly. "But you were asleep and I'm chained, so I had no choice but to fall asleep again."

"Oh vis that so ptitsa? Then v'why didn't v'you awake me? Do v'you need to go v'washroom?"

"No, it's not that. Nevermind," she gulped in embarrassment. She could hardly tell Antonin that he had been having a wet dream of some sort, either about her or Oliviana, and she hadn't wished to awaken him...or rouse him from that kind of dream when she lay right next to him. Especially not when that thing had been poking dangerously against the fabric of his pants. Her heart still hammered wildy when she thought of how...well how vulnerable and full of need Antonin had appeared in his sleep. Or they way his lips formed an O as he moaned.

A tingle ran up her spine and she shivered involuntarily.

"V'is something wrong?" Antonin asked with a frown. "V'hou are cold."

"Uhm, no. Not really."

She discreetly lowered her eyes and was relieved to see Dolohov was no longer sporting an excited wand at this time. She breathed out in relief. So maybe this day might not be wholly bad, at least not so far. Antonin must be a morning person, unlike her, because he was being unusually civil. While she distrusted his good manners, she knew better than to take them for granted...while he offered them. She knew Antonin well enough to know his sunny disposition now might easily change to something darker with a flick of his eyes.

"Uhm actually I do need to go the washroom, please," she said, wanting to get out of the bed as soon as possible before his mood changed. Or he got other ideas. This was the second day of her capture, after all, and a certain something had yet to happen. And she intended to keep it that way, til she escaped permanently.

To her relief, Antonin agreed to free her from the bed without question. Or any implication of something dark or untoward happening.

"Okay, I v'will untie v'you. Excuse me." Antonin scratched at his beard, as he got up from the bed and padded barefoot to the living room.

Unconsciously Hermione realized she was watching the shirtless man's broad back and she flushed in embarrassment. She hoped Antonin did not notice.

Though it was extremely hard to not notice, good Merlin, how sculpted his front abs were as he walked back towards her, with the wand in his hand.

Muttering something incomprehensible in Russian, Antonin flicked his wand over her arms and the chains disappeared with a pop to release her.

A deep breath escaped her lips at the feeling of freedom. Thank Merlin. She would freak out if he decided to be cruel today and leave her chained to a bed all day, or worse yet, naked and chained to his bed.

She rubbed at her wrists as she quickly hopped out of the bed. However, she winced as her bare feet touched the chilly wood floor and she couldn't help jumping. The cabin was absolutely freezing in the morning.

"Don't v'worry," Antonin chuckled, throwing a sweater over his sculpted abs and arms. "It v'will be warm again, ptitsa. I v'will get the fire going."

"Thank you. Where is the washroom?"

"Down that hall." Antonin pointed to the only hallway in the cabin with a roll of his eyes.

Hermione blushed.

Oh right, duh. Get yourself together, Hermione, it's not a maze in here. There's only two or three rooms.

Hermione walked in embarrassment away from Dolohov and found the washroom easily enough. The last door at the end of the hallway. The washroom, she discovered, was a dark blue tiled room with a porcelain sink, toilet and an enormous claw-foot bathtub that looked like it could fit two people comfortably.

She sighed and sat down as she peed. When am I ever going to get out of here?

She wondered how panicked Harry and Ron might be right now. If only she could write them a letter and tell them that she was okay, or at least, as okay as being married to a crazy Russian Death Eater constituted 'okay'.

Running the tap, she splashed some water on her face and looked for a toothbrush. Luckily, the cupboard was filled with new toothbrushes and other toiletries still in their packages. She saw some lip balm and put it on her dry lips.

As she stared in the mirror, she realized her hair was still a mess. If only she had her wand, she could save herself a good ten minutes of struggling with a comb to tame the beast, and use a magic spell to immediately untangle and comb her brown locks.

"Ptitsa, vis everything okay?" Antonin called from the other side of the door.

"Yes." I wish I had a wand but yes.

"Okay, I v'will make breakfast. Just this once," he added. "V'hou will make breakfast after this." He had said the same thing after last night's dinner. Hermione gathered the feeling he was speaking more harshly than he meant. If he ever tried her cooking, he might change his mind about forcing her to cook for him.

"Okay," she said back and waited til he left before she grabbed the only comb and started to tame her hair with it. Not that she cared what she looked like. It just didn't sit well with her perfectionist personality to be disheveled and ungroomed.

Satisfied she no longer looked like a wildebeest, Hermione wandered back down the hall, grabbed one of his pair of slippers and went to the kitchen.

She stopped in her tracks when she stumbled upon the idyllic, almost romantic, scene before her eyes: a rolling fire going, Dolohov humming a Russian hymn to himself as he cooked wearing only a tight v-neck sweater that showed some of his chest. She shivered as she thought of seeing the full breadth of his chest and the trail of dark here that led to his waist.

"V'is something wrong?" he asked for the second time that day.

"No, nothing." Hermione shook her head and then laughed. "Besides the obvious, of course, that I'm here."

"Still not over dat?" Antonin arched a dark brow at her.

"It's been one day," she reminded him. "I'd like to see how happy you would be if you'd been abducted by the Order of the Phoenix and chained to a bed!"

"Ah, nevermind. Vat would be noching v'anyways, I've seen v'worse in Azkaban!" Antonin smirked and flipped the frying pan effortlessly. Hermione blinked in shock to see how adept he was in the kitchen. Where had he learned that, she wondered.

"Right," she gulped as she watched him. It was interesting to see a grown wizard who actually cooked...and made it look sexy. Unlike Ron, Harry and other boys her age who were completely helpless in the kitchen, besides engorging themselves on house-elf's cooking or their mother's cooking.

"What are you cooking?" Hermione asked, watching his brisk movements as Antonin flipped the pan.

"Blini and kotleti."

"Oh lovely."

Antonin caught onto her confusion. "V'you haven't a clue what a blini is do you? Or kotleti?"

"No," Hermione admitted reluctantly that for once she did not know the answer. Then her face sobered as she remembered last night in alarm. "It's not rabbit again is it?"

Antonin bowed and dramatically placed a hand over his heart. "I promise my love to never again serve my v'little ptitsa rabbit again! V'you have my v'word!"

"Okay, well thank you," Hermione replied with a pleasantly cool smile. She did not completely forgive him for that.

He walked over with the pan and scooped out a serving onto a plate for her. "V'it's only flour, chicken, onion and smetana."

After they had eaten breakfast and exchanged small talk, both getting along surprisingly well, Antonin mentioned he had to leave her. So that's why he was being so pleasant this morning, Hermione thought, he didn't want to start a fight with me or have me try to escape right before he left. He doesn't have the time to mess about.

Antonin pushed his empty plate away from him on the table.

"I'm afraid I cannot stay with v'you all the time, I have to go back to Britain to deal with big guy."

"Voldemort?" Her heart rate increased as she stared at him.

Antonin nodded at her solemnly.

"What are you going to tell him?" Hermione asked in alarm. She couldn't help feeling a bit worried for Dolohov. Even if it didn't make sense to be worried about a seasoned Death Eater veteran like him.

"Don't v'worry about it."

"I can't help being a bit worried," Hermione said, then realizing how she sounded, like she was worried for him, she quickly added. "I mean if something were to happen to you, I would assumingly, be stuck locked here, starving to death, without a wand...unless you left the cabin unlocked?"

Antonin shook his head. "Not a chance. I have to v'lock the door after I go."

Hermione pressed her lips together and she sought out sympathy from his eyes. "And what if something were to happen to you, you would leave me to die here in a locked frozen cabin as I ran out of fuel and food?"

Antonin stood up the table and went to put on his coat, completely ignoring her question. "V'you clean up," he said, pointing to the empty plates and pan.

"Well? What about my question?" Hermione followed him as she saw him putting on his boots and getting out his wand from his pocket.

"I said don't vorry about it, ptitsa. V'You will be safe."

"How do you know?"

"I am Mattheiu from the story. You are the Matimutka."

She did not find that very reassuring. "Who is the king that must die then?"

Antonin strode up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders to give her a wet kiss before she could protest. For a second she melted into his kiss as he licked at her with his tongue and then deepened the kiss. Secretly she needed this kiss to assure her Antonin would not leave her for the world and he would indeed be back for her, no matter what. But then she bit at his lip and she shoved him off.

He laughed as if encouraged by her violent response to his kiss and wiped at his lips. "My fiesty rabbit! Use clever head of v'yours to figure out who king is!"

"I dont know!" Hermione shouted after him as he headed out the door. She really felt panicked at how evasive he was being. "Is it Voldemort? The Order? My family? Harry?"

Antonin chuckled and didn't answer her as he disappeared out the door. Slamming the door behind him.

She ran to put her ear by the door as she heard him on the other side putting wards on the whole house to make it impenetrable from both inside and outside.

"Antonin come back! Don't leave me here. Please!" she called in panic. If Voldemort killed him, she really would starve to death here.

Antonin, however, didn't turn around or hear her, then she saw him apparate right outside, leaving only his footprints in the snow.

"Great, it's one big prison in here!" Hermione kicked at the barricaded door and wandered boredly back to the kitchen.

She stared at the few dirty plates and pans. Did he really expect her to clean up everything like a housewife.

She was about to disregard his orders, when she realized he had served her by making breakfast.

"Fine, Toni, just this once, I'll do this, but don't used to this. I'm no housewife, I will not be trapped here forever!" she said to the empty house.

To prove her point, she grabbed the heaviest cast iron pot she could find and smashed it against the windows, trying to break the glass.

Not even a dent or a hint of a crack appeared in the barricaded, magically protected glass. The whole cabin was like a fortress.

Tears stung at her eyes as she stared blindly at the great outdoors, the white landscape of snow, so tauntingly on the other side of the glass.

~o~

a/n: Where could Antonin be going? Will Voldemort allow him to keep his muggleborn?