Last Time:
He heard faintly a scream, and it sounded quite familiar…
"Hermione!" Draco yelled, spinning around and running toward the house.
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Hermione was trying to compose a very eloquent, yet earnest, apology for Draco as she walked out of the room, rubbing a thumb along the carvings in the wood of the chest idly. There was a faint creak behind her and she gasped. Her first instinct was to turn, but as she tried to do so, a hand was clapped over her mouth and an icy cold finger was pressed painfully into the back of her neck, making her cringe. The chest was dropped to the floor with a clatter as she flailed her arms, hoping to hit her attacker. The icy cold finger was suddenly gone from her neck, leaving a tingling, uncomfortable relief as she fought with renewed vigor.
But then a large, black-clothed arm was wrapped heavily around her upper half, pinning her arms to her sides. The icy finger was back, except this time it was tracing a pattern over the neckline of her pink dress, leaving the skin cold and covered in goosebumps. Hermione bit down on the attacker's hand and the person snatched his hand away briefly. Hermione screamed loudly before the hand covered her mouth again, squeezing her jaws and face painfully. She could taste the salty taste of the hand, could feel the rough lines pressed against her lips. She felt a small tear roll down her cheek. Hermione kicked backwards at her opponent, but the man, because it just had to be a man, skirted her attempts at hurting him with an amused growl. The icy finger tapped on her forehead playfully and Hermione whimpered. She heard Draco call her name in the distance, and she heard him thumping up the stairs. The man took his hand off her mouth just as Draco came into view at the top of the stairs.
"Draco, help!" Hermione choked desperately, just as she felt the floor give out beneath her and she was falling down, down and her pink sundress was flying up around her waist and everything was black and someone was laughing and she could hear Draco calling her and she wanted him, needed him…
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Draco called Hermione's name countless times as he knelt on the floor, pounding the spot where she and the black-clothed man had disappeared. He could faintly make out the edges of the trap door, but it wouldn't give…
He stood up and looked around frantically, running through then hallway and pressing things and looking for secret passages. There were none. He took out his wand and blasted the trapdoor open. There was just black emptiness. Draco got on his stomach and peered over the edge.
"Hermione! Hermione? Hermione?" He called, to no avail. He stuck his wand into the hole and muttered 'lumos'. It lit up a small, dank basement room with a dirt floor and walls and no escape… yet Hermione and the attacker weren't there… Draco lowered himself into the room, ignoring the slight clausterphobic fear that grabbed him… he could get trapped down here, in the dark, and starve to death and be eaten while half-alive by a pack of rats… Draco shook his head to clear it and looked around the room. The smell of wet earth was strong and there was a faint dripping noise in the distance. Draco thought he heard a rustle and he spun around, finding nothing. He shivered slightly. The hairs on his neck were standing up and he had goosebumps on his arms, it was so creepy down here… 'Snap out of it Draco!' He thought to himself. 'Remember Hermione, that fucking psycho that you love to pieces? Yeah, that one… she's gone, you bloody fool!' Draco furrowed his brow and began to search the room for a clue to where she could have gone, all thoughts of himself and his pending untimely demise gone, replaced by worry for Hermione. He had to find her, he couldn't live without her…
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Hermione had long since given up trying to be brave in front of her captor, she had already given in, tears were flowing freely down her face. She wished she could see this man, this strong man, this powerful man, this cruel man. He was wearing all black, including a black ski mask that made it impossible to distinguish his features, even more so in the darkness. He had tied her hands behind her back and grabbed her by her long hair, which he was now using like a leash as he strode purposefully through a small, earthen tunnel just big enough for him to semi-crouch in, with Hermione stumbling behind him, whimpering. The only light in the tunnel was the lantern he was using, and he had made no sound other than that throaty, amused laugh he laughed whenever Hermione was especially discomforted…
Cruel, cruel man.
He couldn't be of magic, Hermione had deduced, no wizard would go to all this trouble if he had a wand that would do most anything… and she knew him. That was so terrible, that that laugh that tormented her now was a familiar laugh, so familiar… she knew someone who was ruthless, sadistic. She knew someone who had a heart of ice and steel. If only she could place the laugh...
Who was there evil, that she knew? Voldemort… long gone. Peter Pettigrew… in Azkaban, and if he had escaped, she would've been notified. Lucius Malfoy… maybe he was here to avenge his baby, to convert his little pet Draco back to the dark side… but he was a wizard, one used to luxury… and not the type of luxury where you dragged resistant girls through dirt tunnels. Besides, she had never even met him. Snape… he was on the lightside, wasn't he? Besides, Snape was skinnier, and never in her wildest dreams had she imagined Snape being the type to enjoy torturing others, he was too squeamish. But who else was there… someone evil, someone she didn't know too well, someone who was a stranger, someone who had been around lately, someone mysterious…
"Mr. Milligan?" Hermione said in a slightly hysterical tone. That throaty laugh that says 'ha ha, I've got you know, my sweet Hermione…' was laughed again, in her face.
"Mr. Milligan? Mr. Milligan? Mr. Milligan?" Hermione sobbed desperately as she tripped over rock after rock after rock in the semi-darkness… she was convinced now. If he wasn't Mr. Milligan, he'd say something, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he? But he wasn't saying anything, so it was Mr. Milligan, right? Right. They reached a rotted wooden door in the tunnel and Mr. Milligan pulled it open and shoved her into a small, cold, barely lit concrete room. Hermione fell onto the hard floor and tried to crawl under a large, high, carved wooden rectangle table, but the man grabbed her ankle and pulled her out from under it, picking her off the floor by her shoulders and sitting her on the table. Hermione backed as far away from him as she could on the wooden table and the man laughed again, the horrible laugh.
"Mr. Milligan… why are you doing this to me? Please, Dad or Draco, or somebody, will give you what you want, money? Whatever you want. And you can let me go…" Hermione cried out as the man slapped her hard across the face, causing her head to snap to the side. "Don't call me that, fool child. I'll be back in a moment." He said, giving her hair a vicious tug and storming out the door. Hermione crawled towards the door quietly as she could manage. It was stuck, but maybe with a bit of work…
Ten minutes later she was laying on the floor next to the door, her fingers and the door bloody from her incessant scratching. It wouldn't move, why wouldn't it move, why wouldn't it move…?
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Draco had found it. A well concealed door in the tiny dirt room that led into a small tunnel. He took a deep breath, thought of Hermione, and crawled into the tunnel, half-standing once he was inside. He began to walk along the tunnel.
"Remain calm, Draco. Remain calm." He coached himself, thanking God for the day he got his Hogwart's letter and the day that he had learnt 'Lumos'… that spell was truly a blessing. "Remain calm, find Hermione…" Hermione. That one name had sent his mind into a frantic whirl of panic. His eyes darted around the tunnel and he began running. He stumbled over one of the many rocks obstructing the tunnel and kicked at it in frustration.
"HERMIONE!" He yelled as loudly as he could, as if that could make her magically appear. His voice echoed in the tunnel and he looked around, expecting to see monsters hiding in the shadows. And there were shadows. Everywhere… and there could be anything inside them, anything. "Snap out of it! Hermione, you've got to get to Hermione." He thought a little wildly, then began hurrying down the tunnel again.
He went on and on for what seemed like ages, trying to concentrate on Hermione and not what might be lurking down here… until he heard a rock hitting off the side of the tunnel from behind him. Draco shrank back into the shadows himself, ending his 'Lumos' and shaking with fear. It could be a monster… someone swore from the darkness. Draco turned and looked in the direction of the noise, breathing heavily.
"Silly boy." He heard someone whisper eerily from behind him, the air rushing along his neck, and before he had time to turn around, he was out cold on the floor of the tunnel.
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Draco woke when the rain began. Warm July rain on a warm July night, soothing his skin in a sweet way…
"Mmm." Draco said stretching as he regained his senses. He was lying on some thing hard. And there was rain falling on him…? Draco sat up straight, his eyes popping open as he took in his surrounding. Night time. Dark, warm, forest around. He was lying in the middle of an otherwise empty road, and there was nothing in sight for miles. But Hermione…
"FUCK!" He yelled to the sky.
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The footsteps were getting closer and Hermione hadn't managed to get the door open yet. With a little sob she scrambled onto the table and arranged herself in what she hoped was the same position she had been in when he had left. He walked in and smiled at her vacantly. There was a large, heavy green and gold book in his hand, and right on the edge of it there was blood… a little dried and a little fresh. Hermione swallowed, hard.
"Mr. Milligan, who's- who's blood is that?"
"Stop calling me that, you foolish thing. Don't you know who I am?" The man said as he began to peel off his mask. And then she knew. Hermione took a harsh gasp of the chilly air that made her lungs ache as she looked into a face that was so painfully familiar, into eyes that were hollow… so hollow and cruel, like the laugh…
"No, no, no…" The words fell softly from her lips, fading into the darkness just like her hope, fading, fading, as she looked into his eyes. He stalked towards her, his eyes devouring her, sucking at her soul. "No, please no… please…" sobbed Hermione as she curled into a ball on the table, before he raised the book and brought it down hard on her head. Sweet is the sweetest thing in the world. The man smiled in a cannibalistic way, his eyes darkening. 'Well, maybe not the sweetest thing…' he thought as he lay down on the table next to Hermione and fell into a sleep filled with good dreams, dreams of Titania… and of her daughter… her daughter who belonged to him now…forever…
TBC
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AN: *does dance* I am so evil, I am so evil, yes I am, yes I am, I am so evil, yes I am… Mwahahahaha! Mwahahahaha! This is a giant cliff hanger! Mwahahahaha! You still don't know who he is! Sorry that it's such a short chapter, but I have to go to bed *gasp… bed?!* since I'm leaving early tomorrow morning to drive 6 hours to visit my sister and her baby. God I'm so evil I scare myself! I won't be able to post until at least Sunday, probably Monday… that's a pretty long cliff hanger, though some people have probably figured out who the 'man' is anyway… I'm so evil! *cackles insanely*
Thanks to Reviewers:
fruitloop-14- I am trying to post as fast as possible… *smiles hopefully*
G*Ness- Yep, Draco's irrisistable, alright. Glad you think it was ok even without a beta…
Icy Stormz- I don't think I'll make the deadline for the Archangela fic contest either, my parents are talking about taking me out of school for some sort of holiday, normally I wouldn't mind, but… *grumble* I really wanted to finish this fic for May 4th. I inspired someone! Yippee! I AM THE INSPIREROR! (Is that a word?)
steele- yes, me keep up good work!
Cassondra- I hope they start getting along better too…
allee kat- What do you mean, 'not really'?! I can't sue you?!
lolo- *sniff* Listen here, little missy. In the past 29 days I've written this entire story. 95 PAGES, 14 CHAPTERS IN 29 DAYS! I can't go any faster than that!
Chevira Lowe- riiiiight… *waves*
Sucker For Romance- Thank-you. Very much. Yes, well… ehm, yeah.
Arial- suspense! Just what I was going for! Yippee!
Melodie- Yes, rude, evil, you've got me down to a pat. Hermione went all psycho in the last chapter because that's what I've been trying to get through all story… Hermione's a freakin' psycho! She has got some serious problems… but that's why we love her. The overemotional little nutcracker *gives Hermione pat on head*!
Kristatwen- She loves the story! Oh, monkeys of joy that dance in my dreams!
Nerau Calasis- mmmhmm. Yes. Of course.