Chapter 11:

They told me not to wander the halls alone.

There were dangerous creatures lurking around every corner. Much more dangerous than my deranged uncle and perhaps even more than the Dark Lord. But I had to find Blaise. He wasn't thinking rationally and going to face Severus Snape was a death wish. I wasn't going to be the reason he was hurt. Retracing my steps, I quickly found the dungeons. I froze… the faintest sound of screams could be heard. They were angry… in agony.

But I couldn't go any further.

An arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me away and back around the corner. Without looking at their face, I hit and kicked trying to escape their hold. I was dumped to the ground, hitting the wooden floor with a thud. Looking up with anger in my eyes I was confronted by Draco. His white-blonde hair was perfectly slicked back and grey eyes furious.

Stand down. The voice whispered in my head.

I wouldn't.

He was angry and when men were furious they were violent. But this was too important. I refused to be weak.

"What are you doing?" his was voice low.

I shrank back at his harsh tone. His eyes softened for a moment but I couldn't move. I couldn't speak.

Don't be weak.

"You don't even have your wand."

I had no clue how to use the bloody thing. It would do shite to protect me.

"I-" my throat was dry. "I- need to he-help Blaise." he could hear the desperation in my voice and could see it on my face.

Draco faltered for just a moment.

"You can't." his voice was just above a whisper.

My eyes furrowed together.

"Blaise is safe, I can assure you. The stuff they are doing to Snape-"

I flinched.

"- you don't want to see."

His teeth were clenched but his grey eyes raged a storm. His hands had formed into fists and the faintest tick could be seen in his jaw.

"Wh-who else is they?"

Draco looked down at the ground, kicking his foot.

"Who is th-they?" my voice rose.

He sighed, looking everywhere but at me. I was used to being ignored. I was used to being looked down upon but Draco… he had been so kind. He wouldn't lie to me. Or so I thought.

"Your parents and Blaise." he ran his hand through his hair, tugging anxiously. "Aunt Bella's torture methods are… infamous." he hissed the word. "It's something no one should witness… no should be put through."

"He hurt me," I whispered. "Snape hurt me and you don't think he should suffer?"

Draco glanced up at me as if I were mumbling nonsense. Ever so passionately he stated, "Snape is the closest thing I have to a father. He's taught me everything I know, so I apologize if I'm struggling with the fact that my Godfather is being brutalized!"

He yanked me to my feet as the anxiety settled in my chest. Draco dragged me back down the endlessly long hall in the opposite direction, I'd come from.

I couldn't breathe.

I opened my mouth to speak… nothing but air came out.

He slammed open a door tossing me inside. I fell to the ground, crying out in pain at the snap of my wrist. I watched him through blurry eyes, his facing morphing into one of instant regret but nothing came of it.

"I'll be back in a few hours," he said. "My room has been warded so you can't escape."

I begged with my eyes to be released. I cried. I screamed. But the door slammed shut with a lock.

I was alone.

That terrified me more than ever.

ooOoo

From the rug to the walls to his four-poster bed, everything was emerald green. There were no family pictures, knick-knacks, or anything that would scream a teenage boy lived here. His room was perfectly put together and organized. Nothing was out of place.

I pushed myself up to my feet, cradling my injured wrist to my chest. I wouldn't let this place become another prison. I wouldn't let him treat me like this. I yanked at the drawers to his desk, trying to find some way to escape but everything was locked. The windows were even warded.

He knew I couldn't do magic.

He knew I was weak.

Of course, he'd turn against me… my one friend.

My eyes blurred with tears and shoulders shook. My knees wobbled and I collapsed to the ground.

This was just another prison.

They'd come back.

Or perhaps, I'd be left here to die a slow painful death. No one was come to help me. I hadn't told anyone I left… Draco was the only one who knew where I was.

Death was always the preferred option.

Living a life of servitude was no life but I could never die… they wouldn't let me.

I stared out the window, gazing down below at the garden. Aunt Cissa was standing by a fountain. Her shoulders shook and hands wiped at her face.

She was crying.

Everyone cried here… I wondered if it was because of me.

My fingers touched the glass, wanting to reach out to her just as she had done for me so many times. A moment later Draco appeared. He walked beside her, his hands crossed behind his back. I couldn't make out what they were saying but it seemed serious. A snarl happened upon his face.

He looked up at the window.

I ducked down… but I'm pretty sure he saw me. I sat on the ground at the foot of his bed. The rug softened the hardness which I was grateful for.

I closed my eyes, my head rested on my knees. The storm raged on inside my head, pounding against my skull. I screamed for release only not to be heard.

The silence was the most deafening.

ooOoo

There was a knock at the door.

I turned around, my heart leaped into my throat. Nobody had come in hours. Jelly was the last. She brought me food two hours ago and then left. She had been instructed not to set me free and couldn't even talk to me.

Now, I watched the sunset. A mix of orange and pink covered the sky. Yes, that's how long I've been locked up in this room. I didn't expect Draco to come back.

"Hermione?"

The door opened and instead of facing the blonde-haired boy… my mother stood proud and tall. The tiniest smirk played at her ruby red lips and twirling a finger around a curly lock, I saw just the beginning of blood. Red coated her fair skin.

She thought she had cleaned it all away. My stomach churned and tears stung at the back of my eyes. She didn't seem to notice my weariness.

"I apologize for keeping you here all day, darling," she said. "But there were things I had to do that you just weren't ready to see yet." she licked the blood between her fingers.

"Draco locked me in here!" I exclaimed.

She rolled her dark eyes, huffing in annoyance. "He was told to keep you away from the dungeons. Your father believed you weren't ready to face… Severus Snape."

I flinched at the sound of his name and a shudder went through my body. I wanted to believe he was gone. I wanted to believe that he didn't terrify me but that would just be a lie.

"Is he dead?"

"Not yet."

"Wha-what did you do to him?" I was afraid to ask.

Her eyes flashed darkly as she twirled the wand in her hand. She stared hard at me, unforgiving. "He got what he deserved. I always knew we couldn't trust that traitor!"

I bit my lip and a coppery taste entered my mouth. My mother stared at my bent arm, her gaze focused on my wrist. "What happened?" her head cocked to the side. She took a step forward reaching out towards me and I stumbled back, my face went pale.

Don't say. He'll be angry.

"N-n-nothing." the stutter had returned.

She frowned, shaking her head. "You're hurt. Who did that to you?"

I couldn't meet her eyes. I knew she would be angry… either at my weakness or at Draco and in turn he'd be angry with me.

"No-no-"

"Don't lie to me!"

Pulling out her wand she pointed it at my arm and exclaimed without warning, "Episkey!"

I howled in pain as the crack repaired itself. I stifled a groan, hesitantly flexing my wrist, shocked to find it had been repaired.

"H-how did you do that?"

She rose her eyebrows, seemingly surprised. "It's a healing charm." she simply said. "You don't know?"

"No," I mumbled, looking down at the ground.

I was never allowed to be healed. I didn't deserve it.

Her jaw clenched, understanding my silence. "You're afraid," she said. "How many times do we have to tell you, you're safe?"

I wasn't safe though. Snape was here under the same roof. I would never be safe with him near.

"Tell me who hurt you, Hermione," she repeated, slowly. "No harm will come to you."

I opened my mouth only for air to come out. My vocal cords had frozen, his name stuck at the back of my throat. Instead, I imagined his face hoping she'd get the message. A moment later, I felt a prodding ache at the front of my head as she shifted through my mind.

"Thank you." she breathed. "Don't worry about your prat cousin. Mummy will take care of him for you."

ooOoo

She was there again, dusting off the priceless vase in my Uncle's office. Her back was turned, treating the object as delicately as possible.

I stood by the doorway, watching her, unsure what to say.

She froze, almost as if she sensed my presence.

I said hello and her brown eyes met mine. She stared at me, her gaze burned into my soul. I saw the fear. I recognized her fear as my own. The fear of punishment- of messing up.

Suddenly, the vase slipped from her hand, breaking into a million little pieces. She immediately bent down, the glass cut into her knees and the palm of her hands as she frantically worked to clean up the mess.

"Pl-please!" I pleaded with her. "You're going to hurt yourself… let me help you."

I walked around the desk to find her hands and knees covered in blood. She flinched away, her body trembled at my close proximity. I held my hands up in surrender, trying to show her that I meant no harm. Her face paled as I held out my hand, offering her assistance. She backed away, confusion and fear shone in her eyes.

"My name is Hermione." my voice was just above a whisper. "Do you remember me? We met before."

She didn't respond. She hid behind her dark curls. A drop fell from her cheek.

"I'm sorry—"

"What is going on here?"

My head jerked up, hands frozen above the broken vase. The girl beside me lips slightly parted and eyes widened in pure terror. You could cut the tense air with a knife. I scrabbled to get to my feet, brushing the dirt off my robes. My back immediately stiffened and eyes cast downward.

"S-sir." I managed to swallow the lump in my throat.

Lucius Malfoy banged his cane against his hardwood floor. His narrowed eyes slithered between the both of us before landing on the broken vase. His lips pressed into a thin line.

This was all my fault.

"Step away from the filthy half-blood-"

I paused.

"NOW!"

Like a shock going down my spine, I jumped at the tone of his voice. My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach. I quickly moved around the desk, standing beside him. With a simple swish of his wand, the vase had repaired itself and was back on the original table. A dark red stained the emerald carpet. The girl remained crouched on the floor, too afraid to close her eyes.

"I-i-it w-was my fault s-sir." I stammered.

He rose a delicate thin blonde eyebrow, turning towards me. My shoulders hunched and I cringed back. He noticed but spoke nothing of it.

"I-I s-s-startled her," I rushed to explain. "I-I-I was look-king f-for m-mother, and f-f-ound her cleaning. I wa-was going t-to ask h-her if she had s-seen her." It technically was the truth. I was looking for my mother because she stormed off, presumably to search for Draco. I wanted to find her before she made matters worse.

He regarded me cooly before saying, "you will watch and you will learn. You do not converse with the Help."

I didn't have time to ask what he meant because a moment later the curse fell from his lips. With his wand pointed at the girl, she writhed and screamed bloody murder under the cruciatus curse. I soundlessly screamed. My eyes blurred over with tears as the girl twitched on the ground, her limbs bending in an unnatural position.

"Crucio!" he roared.

Her body twitched. She screamed her voice raw. It felt as if she had swallowed acid and her insides were slowly being burned alive. She could do nothing but lay there and let the curse ride it's way out. She had broken a plate and her master was furious.

"Plea-Ahhhh." she tried to plead with him to stop.

He only became angrier.

I swayed back and forth on my feet.

The girl continued to scream.

My uncle cruelly smiled.

She was supposed to be the enemy. We weren't supposed to be friends. That's what I tried to remind myself. It's what everyone had told me- Aunt Cissa, Mother, Father, Draco, Uncle Lucius…

But the girl hurt.

She cried.

That used to be me… I used to be her.

I couldn't hate her.

The curse lifted and she laid in a puddle of her own vomit. Tremors went through her body as she curled up on herself into a tight ball.

It wasn't her fault… it was all mine. But the words were caught at the back of my throat.

"Clean up this mess. Your punishment will be continued later," he ordered the girl.

He turned his attention to me. The color drained from my face as his hand clamped down on my shoulder, forcing me to walk in front of him.

"Let this be a lesson not to wander the manor alone." he hissed. "The girl is nothing more than a slave, a filthy half-blood. It's her fault for the broken vase and if I catch you speaking to her one more time, you will not like the outcome. Now… let's find your mother."

ooOoo

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Thank you all for reading your support means so much to me! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've been really busy. However, I'll try to update again soon! Also, I REALLY APPRECIATE REVIEWS! It's what keeps me motivated to write! I hope you all are doing well and staying safe and healthy. I'll update again soon!