Prologue

Two figures sat across each other, hugging their knees. They were waiting - waiting for the terrible moment they know would arrive. It was easily a known fact that the two of them are trying very hard to pretend there was no other person locked up in the same place besides they themselves.

"My two favourite people in the world," called a voice sarcastically from outside. The bars of the dungeon arranged themselves so that the speaker could enter.

The dark-haired man clenched his fists and looked away while the blond-haired one stared back defiantly at the speaker. There was determined fire in his eyes as he thought of a possible way out of the dungeon.

"There is no way out," the hooded speaker said coolly, as if reading his thoughts. "You should know."

The silvery-blonde glared at him, but said nothing.

"No clever replies?" he asked dryly as amusement danced in his oddly familiar-looking eyes.

The blond-haired man kept his silence, all the while wishing he was out of the dungeon.

The hooded figure laughed shortly and cruelly. "Never thought you would come back, did you?" he asked, as if the other had not spoken. "And I had to blackmail you, no less, with a hostage." He paused. "At least you've brought the Harry Potter."

The dark-haired prisoner had been silent throughout the whole interlude - until now. He looked ready to explode. "Set her free, you..." A series of curses flew out of his mouth. "Take me instead."

The familiar yet disliked stranger chuckled at his adolescence. "I could, and will, take you," he stated. "Whether or not I promise to release her."

"Leave him be," a voice from the other end spoke firmly and undauntedly. The blonde finally turned away from the hooded figure. "She is, after all, my- "

"I will take both of you," he interrupted, looking like he was starting to lose his patience. "So shut up."

The prisoners locked gazes for a moment and both almost smiled at the irony of it all. "Then take us," they said in unison.

The hooded figure growled in a low and deep tone, and they sensed their danger. He started to mutter some sort of spell.

"Top to toe,
Front to back.
First to sizzle,
Each a whack.

Stuck in cell,
Down to hell.
Return shall not,
Death you sought."

At first nothing happened. Then like a bomb waiting and ticking, they clutched their arms on instinct. Each of them felt the scrutinizing pain as if their limbs were literally torn away from the slowly, one by one. Every finger and toe were being pulled out and their arms and legs started twisting in a direction their joints had refused to turn. Just when it felt like it was all over, there was practically a loud boom in their mind and they felt like they were exploding-

Twenty-two year old Hermione Granger screamed. She sat up all of a sudden, perspiring furiously. Her fiancé, Draco Malfoy appeared in her doorway in a matter of seconds, hair ruffled and visible dark rings under his eyes.

"Hermione," he said breathlessly, hurrying over to her bed. "Are you okay?"

Hermione burst into tears and clutched Draco so tightly that there were fingernail marks on his skin. "I-I just had a premonition," she whispered. "O-or a dream. Or- I-I don't know."

Draco cupped her face in a consoling manner, though in his mind, he was frantic and worried. Ever since a few months ago, since they started living in their own mansion in the Muggle world, away from the Malfoys Manor, Hermione had been having weird dreams. And they were about similar people with almost similar setting each time.

"I saw Harry inside," she choked out, crying. "With another person - I don't know who." She began punching her pillow as a way of venting her frustration.

"Everything's okay," Draco told Hermione, hoping that he kept the uncertain note from his tone. "It's just a nightmare."

Watching Hermione nod mutely and trustingly, he wondered briefly if what he said was true.