For a second, Severus and Cassie stared at each other. She searched his face for anything that could help or reassure her, but he showed no signs of recognition. Then the eye contact was broken as he looked towards Lucius and addressed him instead.

"Good evening, Lucius. I bring news; highly valuable information about a member of the Order. I was instructed only to share it with the inner circle- "

"Not in front of Draco," Lucius interrupted, casting a contemptuous glance in hers and Draco's direction. "Draco! Out!"

Draco's evil look towards his father could rival Lucius'. Without a word, he seized Cassie's wrist and dragged her out the room behind him. Vaguely, she wondered if Lucius always spoke to him like that. It would explain a lot when it came to his personality and behaviour at Hogwarts.

They walked silently and swiftly down the dark corridor. There was hardly any light, except for two wall lamps spaced out unevenly in the long hall. As they passed the ugly Edwardian lamps, the light was thrown over a large portrait containing the sternest face Cassie had ever seen; she shuddered. The man appeared to be glaring at her and she could feel the cold eyes boring into her back as she was yanked none too gently in front of a large, black door.

Pushing it open, Draco pushed her in slightly more gently and then entered himself. Both of them gazed around the grimy kitchen. It looked completely Victorian to Cassie; there was nothing remotely modern about it whatsoever. It was as big as you'd expect the kitchen in a large Manor house to be, but it was a vile mess.

"Usually my mother would use a few spells, but she's been… elsewhere recently," Draco said shortly, his grey eyes flickering over the filthy range. He turned to look at her, his face softening. "I think the cleaning supplies that our House Elves used to use are in the cupboard. I'd help, but… you know…"

Cassie stared at him. Draco had never been remotely bashful or helpful at Hogwarts. What had happened to the school bully? Could this be his sensitive side?

Draco stared sharply at her. "Well, get to it then!" he commanded. "Or else my father will come in, and believe me, you don't want to make him angry!"

No, she was definitely mistaken; Draco didn't have a sensitive side. Privately thinking that Lucius seemed permanently angry and she wouldn't notice much difference, she walked past him without another word and flung open the cupboard door in the corner.

"Ow!"

Cassie had hit herself in the eye. Swearing under her breath, she danced about the kitchen in pain, clutching her left eye and crashing into the bench in the middle of the room.

"Oh, wow…" When she looked up through her one good eye, she saw Draco looking amused. Then he composed himself. "What are you doing, Hannett?"

"I've just hit myself in the bloody eye, Draco, I'm so sorry," Cassie snapped, letting out a quiet, low groan. She was aware of footsteps drawing closer but was too focussed on her pain to notice much or care. Suddenly, someone grabbed her face and forced her to face them.

Draco peered at her eye much closer and longer than she would have liked. "Hmm… I can't see any swelling or bruising yet. It looks okay to me, but if you need anything, I could sneak something down from the bathroom cabinet."

"I hope I'll be fine," Cassie said, in turn taking a good long look at him. If he hadn't been such a spiteful bastard, she might have fancied him back at Hogwarts. Plenty of other girls did, she knew that for a fact, even if they hated his personality. Instead, it was George Weasley who had captured her heart; lovely, funny George Weasley. The thought of him so early on in her capture caused her eyes to fill with tears. She couldn't bear thinking of him worrying, wondering where she was…

"It is hurting, you're crying," Draco pointed out, misunderstanding. "I'll get you something-"

"No!" Cassie furiously scrubbed at her eyes, cautiously testing the sore one by opening it. Her vision was fine, it just stung. "If you must know, I'm crying at the idea of being stuck here for Merlin knows how long, probably until he kills me!" She assumed that Draco knew 'he' was Voldemort himself.

Draco looked both awkward and slightly annoyed.

"No offence intended or anything," he replied in a hard voice, "but I'd rather you weren't here either. For your sake and mine! This is my house, my childhood home, and there's always someone I don't like walking around as if they own the place."

He walked to the door, then turned back. "I'll ask Father to cut you a bit of slack if he keeps getting at you, but he's almost always angry at something or someone these days."

"Thanks," Cassie muttered, turning away. She'd best get a move on and make a start; she wouldn't put it past Lucius to make her stay up all night if he wasn't satisfied with her progress.

Thankfully, Draco slid out the room at that point, and Cassie began to clean. The range needed tackling first; there were black crusts all over it and some nasty orange stains.

She scrubbed at it for a while, but the layer of dirt wasn't shifting. Abandoning it with a sigh, she started on the long, tedious and disgusting process of cleaning the large wooden table in the centre of the room.

'Has anyone ever actually cleaned in here?' Cassie wondered to herself, bored stiff. The table seemed to be more willing to part with its layer of grime, and after a while, she could almost pretend she was back at home. Not the flat above the shop, but her previous dwelling. Cassie had had a table just like this one, except hers wasn't for food preparation. No, hers was for her secret job, the illegal one. And she prayed fervently that the Malfoys and their associates would never, ever find out about her work.

Despite the awful situation, she was able to picture herself back in the warm room she rented out in Diagon Alley. Cassie always had a fire blazing, partly because her job required it, partly because it was cold in that room without it, but mostly to hide the scent of the illegal ingredients she hoarded…

Bored beyond words at the endless scrubbing, Cassie began humming songs that she enjoyed. The humming grew louder until she could not stop herself from singing aloud.

"Young hearts… run free… they'll never be hung up, hung up like my man and me," Cassie sang. She couldn't remember where she'd even heard this song, but it was fun to sing it.

After singing it twice more, she suddenly remembered where she'd first heard it. Florean Fortescue, her legal guardian from ages fourteen until recently (she had turned seventeen just after school had finished for the year), played it on his old gramophone and sang it as he cleaned after closing his parlour. The thought of the kindly Florean caused tears to well up in her eyes again.

"So baby come light me up, and maybe I'll let you on it," Cassie sang loudly in an attempt to cheer herself up. "A little bit dangerous, but baby that's how I want it- "

She stopped abruptly at the loud footsteps outside the door, suddenly fearful that Lucius might be stood there, or even Voldemort, ready to curse her for daring to sing. But, to her immense surprise, Severus was stood outside, and he was watching her with the oddest expression on her face.

Before she could even begin to feel embarrassed about being caught singing and looking so awful, even though she knew him, the moment was over. The second their eyes met, he appeared to glide away down the hall in his usual bat-like manner.

Cassie stared out the door, hardly daring to move. Was there a hint of pity across his face?

~~~(O.O)~~~

Draco stared at the fourth bedroom on the second floor. Following the theme of the rest of the house, it was dull and Victorian, with not a splash of colour anywhere. It didn't suit the vibrant Cassie, but then she wasn't exactly full of life at the moment.

He sighed. There was a growing sense of discomfort deep within him. He never liked what happened to the prisoners. Every time a new captive appeared in their drawing room, Draco always felt sick just looking at them. Then he found he couldn't look them in the face. The immense guilt for being part of it all prevented him from being able to look them in the eye.

Casting the first incantation, he thought about what he'd said to Cassie. Had he revealed too much? Perhaps. But who was she going to tell anyway? Everything he'd said was true. He didn't want her around, nor did he want Ollivander locked up downstairs, nor did he want the other Death Eaters coming and going as they pleased. Home was meant to be a secure place, yet Draco felt more exposed and vulnerable than ever.

~~~(O.O)~~~

Luckily, Snape knew all the entrances and exits in this gloomy house. He had deliberately taken a different route, knowing that Cassie would be found in the kitchen slaving away like a House Elf. Down the narrow passageway, he could hear her singing.

He hadn't meant to stop, but Snape couldn't resist glancing in to see her. She hadn't looked nearly as dreadful as he'd assumed she might, but then it was still early days. He knew Cassie was in it for the long-haul. After she'd looked up, Snape had made himself scarce.

It was going to be tricky trying to speak to her, but he knew he had to. He owed her that much.

~~~(O.O)~~~

Miles away, Amycus lay on his bed with his hands behind his head, staring thoughtfully at the top of his four-poster bed. He was in a tavern room that was much warmer and more comfortable than his own one. As was usual these days, Cassie was on his mind.

He was desperate to see her again. His obsessive thoughts were getting to be almost painful, and it didn't help that his own sister thought it was hysterically funny. Alecto thought he was being utterly ridiculous and wasn't ever afraid to tell him that. For some reason, she kept putting their next visit off, insisting that they needed to wait for Rodolphus and Rabastan to be there before they turned up.

When Amycus innocently questioned why, he didn't understand why Alecto stuttered and turned an ugly shade of red. It didn't occur to his selfish mind that his sister had her own reason for wanting to go back to the Malfoy's that was not entirely dissimilar to his.

Boy, was she beautiful though… Amycus grinned stupidly to himself, his mind back yet again to Cassie. He hadn't worked out what he wanted to say to her yet. Talking wasn't his strong point, and he didn't have much of a way with words, not like Lucius, Scabior and Rodolphus. The grin slid off his face. How on earth would he deal with his love rivals? He couldn't bump off all three. That would look really suspicious. He also got the distinct impression that the Dark Lord wouldn't be terribly impressed either.

Amycus found Cassie, dressed in rags, crouching down on the floor and cowering away from Rodolphus. A surge of rage flowed through his veins as he bravely stared down Bellatrix's unfaithful husband.

"Get away from her," Amycus said in a deep, powerful voice. Rodolphus laughed and stayed put, causing him to draw his wand out of his robes.

"I said, step away." It was no use. Amycus didn't want to have to kill him, but he was too much of a threat. One look at the beautiful, terrified Cassie convinced him he had no choice. The fair maiden needed saving.

"Avada Kedavra." Rodolphus slumped to the floor, and Cassie looked up gratefully. Even though her face and clothes were filthy, she still looked stunning as ever. Getting up, she rushed into Amycus' arms.

"You saved me," Cassie said in relief, her body pressed up against his. Ever the gentleman, Amycus nobly and chivalrously moved gently away from her.

"I did what I had to do," Amycus said, smiling in a benevolent (and not a suggestive) manner. He didn't expect the girl to reward him; he definitely didn't have any ulterior motives whatsoever. But Cassie had other ideas.

She cosied up to him, batting her eyelids with a naughty glint in her eye. "But not all rescuers are as handsome as you, Amycus…"

Amycus smiled happily at his ludicrous daydream.

~~~(O.O)~~~

"What is it now, Draco?" Lucius looked tired and fed up as he followed his son up the stairs and onto the landing.

"I think I've put the wrong enchantment on the room. I said the purple boil jinx instead of- "

Lucius held up a weary hand. "I know where you've gone wrong." He peered into the room as though that would lift the wrong enchantment. "I'll take a look at it now."

"Thanks." Awkwardly, Draco turned and walked back down the corridor, wondering how he had got it so wrong. He was nervous, that was why, but for what reason?

~~~(O.O)~~~

Shortly after Draco arrived in the kitchen, stuttering slightly as he spoke (most unlike him, Cassie noted automatically), Lucius strode in and at once, there was silence. He glanced around the kitchen with a faint sneer on his face.

"This will need to be finished tomorrow." No word of thanks, naturally. "For tonight, you will need to sleep down in the cellar- "

"Why can't Cassie sleep upstairs?" Draco interrupted. Lucius gave him the most ferocious look.

"Unless she would like purple boils over her entire body, then I would rather she slept down here. As you kindly informed me, the protective jinxes have gone somewhat wrong. And I'll thank you not to interrupt me, Draco."

Draco looked like a sullen child as he grabbed her arm without another word and pulled her towards the direction of the cellar. He looked so angry at being reprimanded again that she didn't dare speak.

"Ah, Narcissa darling! You're back at last!" At his father's words, Draco dragged her quickly down the rest of the steps, causing her to almost lose her footing, and fumbled with the keys. He opened the door and pushed her inside.

"I'll be back in ten minutes," Draco promised, and left quickly, presumably to welcome his mother home.

Pacing was always something that irritated Cassie; there was no good reason for it, it just annoyed her. She watched Fred pace up and down the front of the shop aimlessly every fortnight when he was waiting for the new deliveries to the shop (the twins employed several highly skilled wizards to recreate their inventions in batches). There was no denying that Cassie loved Fred like a brother, but it didn't stop her from wanting to punch him every time he began pacing and sighing loudly.

However, when Draco failed to materialise after twenty minutes, she began stomping up and down the cellar, forgetting how she felt previously about such an action. Being locked in a dark cellar was about as exciting as watching paint dry, and ten times more terrifying too. Cassie was alert and scared; it would be hours before she would be settled enough to sleep.

Half an hour on from that, she heard light footsteps. Cassie tensed, but upon looking up, she saw it was only Draco, holding an old-fashioned lamp and some grey blankets.

"Here," Draco hissed, pushing the blankets through the gap in the bars. "Put one on the floor and cover yourself with the other one. I hope it doesn't smell too bad down there." He peered in as if he could see the smells materialising.

"It could be better," Cassie said honestly. "But thank you, I really appreciate this."

Draco blushed slightly and ducked his head. He looked quite cute, Cassie thought with an unpleasant jolt...

"Sleep well." And with that, Draco left hastily. A few seconds later, Cassie heard the sound of shattering glass above her head; he must have dropped the lamp. She stifled a giggle as she heard a loud, "shit!" from Draco.

Feeling slightly better, she lay one blanket on the floor, then lay down and covered herself with the other one. Even in the height of summer, the cellar was still cold, but it wasn't unpleasant. It took a long time to get to sleep, but when she did it was long and dreamless…