Chapter 11
Hermione stood dumbfounded, the phone still in her hand, when the doorbell rang.
Maybe Harry apparated over to discuss it, she thought as she unlocked the door. But she was wrong. No one was there when she opened the door. Or so she thought.
"Mmph!" something had clamped her mouth shut. Hermione's arms and legs were flailing hysterically while a strong, invisible force held her to the spot. Some thing large and heavy hit her on the head. Her eyes rolled back and she passed out.
~*~
Seconds after Henry left, Draco apparated to Hermione's doorstep, knocking viciously on the solid oak door.
"Damnit, Hermione!"
Draco's knuckles became raw and red after knocking for three minutes. Desperately, he apparated inside and searched the house hastily.
"Shit! This can't be happening!" Draco screamed, slumping onto the couch. How could he know where she was? She could just be out getting groceries, not being held hostage by his screw-loose father.
As Draco got up to leave, he noticed a scrap of something shimmery stuck in the doorjamb. With a hard yank, he pulled it out and examined it. It was a torn piece of thin, silvery cloth. He wrapped it around his finger, which then seemed to disappear. Yes, it was part of an invisibility cloak that had caught in the door and snagged. Draco knew, without hesitation, that it was his father's. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
~*~
"Damnit!" Lucius Malfoy cursed loudly as he examined his torn invisibility cloak. "This blasted piece of shit was expensive!"
"Your cloak or that fucked up mind of yours?" Hermione spat from across the room.
"Oh, you're a funny one," Lucius said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "You won't like where that gets you."
"Don't like where you got me, either," Hermione wriggled in her shackles and chains.
"Good, so you're happy then," Lucius smirked.
"You know, you're pretty damn stupid for a man who runs his own company."
"Whatever ever do you mean?" Lucius asked with a play-innocent face so ugly it would break a mirror in record time.
"Someone's bound to find you. Your house is no secret lair, trust me."
"Oh, how little we know! This manor is plastered in enchantments against trespassers!" Lucius sneered.
But your son isn't a trespasser… Hermione thought. If only Draco could find out she was here. She couldn't even be sure he knew she had been kidnapped. She hoped after trying to reach her, he'd realize something was not right.
If she could just keep Lucius arguing that would give Draco a chance to get there…
"Lucius, you are a complete imbecil."
Lucius shot her a look. "I'm not stupid."
"Oh, you aren't?"
"What is this about, mudblood?" he growled, annoyed.
"Oh, just that you are a complete dumbass who doesn't know dipshit about how to properly kidnap a person."
If Lucius were smart, he would have known not to react to that. However, Lucius wasn't smart when it came to people insulting him, rather than the other way around.
"Shut up!" he yelled, slapping Hermione with force.
"Worthless bastard," she spat back, ignoring the pain on her face.
"I said shut up!"
Hermione continued, paying no heed to his warnings. "Why don't you stop lying to the public and tell them what you really are?"
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"The horrible result of incest of course!"
Oops. She had gone too far.
"That's it!" Lucius barked, fed up. "You are coming with me, right now!"
He ripped Hermione from her restraints, dragging her down two flights of stone stairs and through a small door. When chandeliers of black candles flickered on, Hermione was welcomed by a horrifying site.
Medieval torture devices filled the room to overflow, as well as one large, metal machine that hovered over a stretching table.
Lucius threw Hermione onto the platform, chaining her into place.
"I'm sick of your God damn voice! I'm sick of your eyes! They glare at me every time I move!" Lucius shrieked, positioning himself behind the giant machine and turning it on.
"You understand electricity?" Hermione asked. Most full wizards didn't.
"Of course. To run a company that involves Muggles you have to understand them."
"What the hell are you doing?!" Hermione screeched, realizing the thing was some sort of gun.
"Driving needles into your entire body," he said coolly. Hermione's eyes widened in fear.
Lucius fiddled with some switches and buttons until the needle gun was humming with power.
Lucius grinned evilly. "Close your eyes if you don't want to see yourself die, bitch."
~*~