DISCLAIMER: I don't own Draco and Hermione, although I wish I did...

Author's note: I hope at least some of you read Dreaming One's review. Hm. I think she (I guess you are a she – May is a female name -  I'll apologise if you're male; btw I don't know if you ever received one of my emails, sometimes I'd like to answer to your reviews and I'm never sure if you're annoyed or if you just don't get my mails.) is quite right with what she wrote. You see, this is my first fanfic ever, I have only written scientific essays so far and nothing that would be close to fantasy. That's why I am so thankful if you criticise the chapters I post.  I guess, the last chapters have indeed been a little too boring. Hm, and they somehow ended up in a neat little circle. Oh well. This review really disturbed me (in a positive sense) and instead of analysing a scientific article (an essay which is due tomorrow) I can't help but writing a new chapter. Something that's better than anything I posted recently. So, please read through it and tell me what you think about it. It is not beta-read, sorry Exlibris, but I wanted to post it now. And please, feel free to flame me if it sucks. I need to know what's wrong if I ever want to become a good writer. Criticism is always welcome!

Thank you.

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And Then We Were Defeated

Chapter 15

She's gone!

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Draco hit the ground with a loud bump as he fell off his four-poster and awoke instantly.

"Fuck. What's that about?" He mumbled sleepily and tried to figure out why he wasn't in his bed anymore. He lay entangled in his satin sheets and finally grabbed his wand from the bedside table. "Lumos." he muttered and threw his blankets away from him to get up. The room was now lit with a soft golden light and Draco was about to climb back into his bed when the memory of the strange dream that had hunted him in his sleep came back to his mind. Anger rose inside him and disregarding that he was still wearing his silk pyjamas he stormed out of his room and down the corridor  until he came to a halt right in front of the room where Hermione was kept captive.

His stomach ached at the though of her and he hesitated a second, but then he pushed down the handle and opened the door. He stomped towards the four-poster, drew at the curtains and was about to yell at Hermione's sleeping figure when he noticed that she was gone. Her bed was empty and untouched. Draco's mouth snapped shut and his eyes narrowed. He turned and walked towards the bathroom door to see if it was locked and if she was inside the bathroom, but as he tried to open the door it easily gave way and revealed nothing but a dark and empty bathroom.  Both rooms looked as if there hadn't been anybody in there for hours, nothing was touched, there were no clothes spread anywhere or any other sign that a girl had resided in them.

He swore. "Granger! Where the hell is that mudblood?!" he yelled and left the guestroom. With a flick of his wand the candles floating in the hallway lightened and Draco went to the staircase. "Dobby! Wimpsy! Come here at once!" Now he was furious. The two house-elves apperated right in front of him only seconds after he had called their names. "Where is she? Where is Hermione Granger?" he demanded to know threateningly. "She is not in her room. Go find her immediately! If she has left the grounds or even the Manor you can be sure not to outlive the break of dawn!" The two little creatures looked at each other, but dared not ask their master a question and within a split second both vanished to search for the missing girl.

Draco returned to Hermione's room and closed the door behind him. Yes, he was furious, but at the same time fear mixed with his rage and fury. A kind of fear he hadn't known before. He wasn't afraid of what the Dark Lord and Dumbledore would do to him if they found out that Hermine had gone and his father would rather celebrate to be rid of the mudblood then being angry with Draco, but Draco actually was afraid for Hermione. An iron hand seemed to hold his heart in a tight grip every time he thought of her and he wondered what had happened to her. Had she found a way to escape? Hardly possible. She wouldn't even be able to get out of her room without a wand or anybody to help her. Something was wrong here. Hermione Granger, the mudblood bitch he hated nearly as much as Harry Potter, had disappeared and what was even stranger...he cared about her.

His head in his hands he sat down on the bed. Again he felt dizzy and his stomach squirmed. All he could think of was Hermione and what might have happened to her. His whole being seemed to be focused on her and although his brains told him that he actually shouldn't give a damn about her he couldn't help worrying.  

Never before in his entire life Draco Malfoy had worried for another person and now he was on the brink of a nervous breakdown because an annoying mudblood bitch had vanished. Something had changed inside him and Draco Malfoy was sure that this had not happened for his own good.