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Disclaimer: I don't own this and I am evidently making no money from it so if you sued it would be rather pointless.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter five: Answers In Azka
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The swirls of colour stopped abruptly as she arrived and her legs almost buckled beneath her as she landed on the stone floor, but she still stood. Where she stood, she had no idea, the darkness was almost complete, but from the chill wind that was almost blowing her over she figured that she was standing outside.
"Bout time" snapped a sour voice from the darkness. "I'll take that back now, before you pollute it"
Hermione felt the dagger that she had been holding yanked out of her hand.
"Hello to you to Malfoy, yes I have been having a wonderful Christmas, how about you?" She said sarcastically. He snorted in reply. "Oh what was I doing expecting a civil greeting from a Malfoy"
"Watch it Granger, or you won't live to see Christmas" He said as she rolled her eyes.
This was going to be more difficult than she had expected.
"Lumos" Hermione muttered holding her wand before her, its tip flaring into light.
"Nox" Malfoy hissed extinguishing the light. "What are you doing Granger, do you want us caught?!"
Hermione's eyes were slowly adjusting to the light and she realized that they were standing in a filthy alley way. It looked inhabited, but the lack of noise was unnerving.
"Where are we?" Hermione snapped as Malfoy pushed her in the direction of a faint light.
"We are in the wizarding Village Azka in Murmaska" Malfoy snapped as Hermione looked at him shocked.
"We are in Russia?!" she demanded as Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"Shut up Granger and follow me" he said walking ahead in the semi darkness in the direction of the light, that was filtering through a doorway with an old sign hanging above it written in Russian. Just as she was about to follow him into the room, he turned and led her down another alleyway, even narrower than the one they had just left.
"Put these on" Malfoy whispered pausing by another doorway and tossing her a set of velvet black robes and a cloak to match. "Tie your hair back as well, and put your wand away"
"Why?!" she demanded furiously.
"You don't have to, if you like, you can just start walking home" Malfoy said sourly.
She decided to comply, passing beyond the threshold of annoyance in the process.
"What I'm not going to pollute these as well?" she snapped.
"They aren't mine, keep them" he said as she realized something else.
"Malfoy just where am I going to change?"
Malfoy, it seemed hadn't thought of this either.
"Change here, it's not like I am going to look" Malfoy snapped turning the other way. Hermione however was not as fine with this idea as he was.
"Shimist" she snapped pointing her wand first behind her then above and finally in front. A shield of impassable mist encircled her, blocking her from view.
"hurry up" Malfoy muttered as she struggled into the robes, they were almost a skintight fit and decorated with a silver belt pattern at the waist before falling in almost an A-line skirt. "This doesn't look like a traditional robe" Hermione mused mostly to herself, but was replied to anyway.
"It was the traditional Dress robe in Russia, The wife of the great wizards Tsar, Ivanova started the trend" he drawled in a bored tone.
"It amazes me that you know that Malfoy, with a father like yours" Hermione said as she pulled the cloak over her shoulders and transfigured a piece of string that was hanging from her school robes into a ribbon.
"I have a mother as well Granger" he snapped as she shrunk her school robe and put them in her pocket.
"Oh so I struck a nerve did I?" she asked as she started deleting the spell around her. By the little she could see of Malfoy in the darkness, she knew she had.
"Say another word on that subject Granger, and I'll leave you here for dead" he said viciously as she finished tying her hair back.
"Whatever Malfoy, now what?" she asked as he looked at her appearance critically.
"Raise your head high and look down to no one" he snapped starting back for the doorway of light. As they walked in the door, Hermione was about to ask what the place was, but stopped short. There was no need.
It was a pub, the smell alone told her that, she didn't need to see the men sprawled over tables, drunk, cradling drinks, or in the case of at least one man that looked like he hadn't showered for a month, drowning in them. As she entered the door, she became uncomfortably aware that all the eyes in the room that were still in conscious heads had turned to her.
Malfoy, who didn't seem to notice, or most likely didn't care started over to the bar and called out to what looked to be the owner. He was as tall as Hagrid, but was well shaven and had a mustache above a grimace that would have done professor McGonagall proud.
"Malfoy" he said in a deep Russian accent, but his suspicious eyes were on Hermione. "Who is this fox?"
Malfoy, who it seemed, was pained at hearing Hermione Granger called a fox, put on a face that made him look so much like his father, that it was unnerving. "None of your business, now which room"
"Awaited in three" The bar keeper growled his eyes still on Hermione, who was beginning to feel very uncomfortable beneath his gaze.
"Thank you Yuri" Malfoy snapped stepping in Yuri's line of sight and giving him a challenging glare.
"Come Hermione, we are awaited" Malfoy said as he took her arm elegantly, but roughly and lead her towards some stairs at the far end of the room. As soon as they had climbed out of sight of the people below, Malfoy let go of her as if she had burned him.
"Great, I need to wash my hands now" he sighed as Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Hermione?" She asked as he glared at her.
"That is your name isn't it Granger?" he asked coolly continuing up the stairs.
"Where are we going?"
"To meet someone"
"Who?"
"The one person that I can not stand as far as I could throw her" Malfoy snapped as Hermione followed after him.
"Which is?"
"Merlin what is this, 100 questions?!" He snapped. "Just follow me, keep your mouth shut, and don't speak unless you are spoken to"
Hermione was not about to be ordered around in such a fashion and was about to inform Malfoy of the fact when she noticed Malfoy's appearance. His hair was longer, almost just beyond his ears, not slicked back as usual and he was dressed exactly the same way that Lucius Malfoy had been on the previous occasions she had seen him. He was even carrying Lucius' wand sheath that he had carried everywhere.
"Yuri thought that you were Lucius" She said in a flawed voice as Malfoy kept climbing the stairs.
"What of it?" Malfoy snapped but Hermione fell silent and followed. 'Interesting, very interesting' she though as they reached a dimly lit corridor lined with doors. Walking to number three, he tapped it three times with his wand and muttered something in a different language. 'Russian most likely' Hermione though as the door creaked open.
"Who is it?" Demanded a voice from the shadow as Hermione followed him through the door.
"It is just me Aunt" Malfoy said plastering a smile onto his face that had 'faked' written all over it. "And a- 'friend' from school"
He reached in front of Hermione and closed the door giving her a warning glance as he did so. He wanted her to play along.
"Your mother never mentioned that you had a girlfriend" she said cautiously as she moved slightly out of the shadows so she could see Hermione better. "A Slytherin I trust"
"A Ravenclaw actually, but would have done Salazar proud" Malfoy said stepping lightly on Hermione's foot as Hermione tried not to laugh at the fact that Malfoy had to deal with the thought that Mudblood Granger was his girlfriend. "Aunt this is Nicole Déloncré, Only Daughter of one of the noblest houses in France"
Hermione gave a slight bow as the woman smiled wickedly, her gaunt face almost glowing pale white in the darkness around her. She had a tangle of dark hair around her face that added to the effect.
"Very well picked Draco, you will do the bloodlines proud" she said starting across the room towards them.
"Now dear boy, what brings you here?" she asked as Hermione edged slightly behind Malfoy. This woman scared her. She reminded her of someone, but she couldn't quiet think of whom.
"I want to know when the Dark lord will move on Azkaban" Malfoy said as his aunt shot a look at Hermione. "And where my father's cell is"
"What makes you trust this witch so much" His Aunt sniffed.
"Because her loyalties lie with us, and her father rots in Azkaban with mine" Malfoy said his voice as expressionless as his face.
'How can he lie like that?' Hermione thought as she nodded her head once when his aunt looked at her. Suddenly a little voice knocked on the door of her brain. 'Hello, Draco Malfoy, of course he can lie'.
"Why do you want to know when?" His Aunt asked suspiciously.
"Because it coincides with my plans for my father" He said smoothly as Hermione gave a start in surprise as she realized what he meant. Malfoy shot her a look, but it was too late, his Aunt had caught it.
"What is the matter Nicole" Malfoy asked faking concern as his eyes flashed violently.
"Oh it's just-"Hermione had to cover up quickly, the look in Malfoy's eyes told her this was not the time to screw this up. "Oh my father, I miss him so, it has been dreadful without him" she cried faking a sob. "The other families are competing for our title and are tearing our families name apart without my fathers power behind it"
Malfoy looked at her dumbfounded wondering how the hell she came up with a lie like that, as his aunt nodded knowingly and pat her on the shoulder.
"Oh you poor thing" she said as Hermione pretended to squeezed out some fake tears. Malfoy had made lying look like something hard to do, but this came almost naturally. She wiped away the fake tears as Malfoy's aunt continued again "But I am sure that if you align your house with the Malfoy's, the pressure should recede"
Hermione nodded, as she looked at the ground. Align her house the Malfoy's? If the situation had not been so important she would have laughed. Wait till Ron and Harry heard this one.
"Well one problem at a time Nicole" Malfoy said as his aunt turned back to him.
"Well if you are planning anything, then tonight is the time to plan it Draco, at midnight" she said going back over to the corner she had been slouching in as they had came in. Malfoy gave Hermione a slight nod to let her know to keep up what she had started, before his Aunt returned this time with her wand and two silver rings.
"Draco, your father is on the third floor, that is generally where English wizards are kept, and Nicole, I'd bet that your father is on the fifth"
"How did you learn the castle of Azkaban?" Hermione asked dreading the answer.
"I was an occupant, because I made a stand for our lord" She said dismissively.
"Black eyed peas" Malfoy muttered under his breath.
"What was that Draco?" his Aunt asked as he smiled and Hermione almost fell over backward in shock. She knew very well what he had meant. Shut up.
"Nothing, just thinking aloud" he said as she nodded. "Well thank you Aunt, but we must be going; we have plans to see through"
"Wait, if you two are going in together, wear these" She said grabbing Draco's hand and pushing the ring on before he could react. She reached for Hermione's hand, but Malfoy intercepted her taking the ring from her.
"We can organize all of this later" Malfoy said quickly as his aunt looked at him suspiciously then smiled. "Don't be modest, if you two are together, it should be nothing new"
Hermione very quickly caught on to the reason that Malfoy did not want that ring on her finger and helped.
"We haven't made and commitments like that yet" she said hurriedly blushing.
"No better time to start" she said dangerously. "Draco, by tradition, if you don't wear it you will be disgracing all four houses, It was Mrs. Blacks wish for the rest of the generations"
"I know" Malfoy said cutting his Aunt from giving them the history speech that he was determined for Hermione not to hear.
"Then put that ring on Miss Nicole's finger"
It was the longest wait ever for him to reach up and slide the ring onto Hermione's right hand ring finger. Suddenly both the rings glowed gold before fading back to their original colour. Malfoy and Hermione looked at each other dumbfounded as his aunt took her wand and started tracing a diagram in the air. Malfoy recovered first and turned his attention back to his Aunt, who was transferring the diagram onto a piece of paper.
"We must be going, we have to be at the manor by eight and I have a few things to take care of before that" He said as his aunt handed him the paper.
"Be cautious, both of you" she said as Malfoy started for the door and his aunt shook Hermione's hand. "You will make a fine recruit to our lord's cause"
"Come Nicole" Malfoy said grabbing her arm in the same fashion he had earlier downstairs and leading her outside the door. "Good bye Aunt Bell" he said as he closed the door and forced Hermione quickly towards the stairs not giving her a chance to say goodbye.
Suddenly something clicked in Hermione's brain. Something Harry had mentioned when she had commented of the picture of the blacks family tree that Harry kept in his photo album.
"Aunt Bell?" she said quietly as Malfoy ushered her down the stairs. "As in your mother's sister?"
Malfoy stayed silent, but that was answer enough. She suddenly felt violently sick. She felt disgusted with herself and enraged that she had taken no action when she had been standing in the same room as her. She had just shook the hand of the creature that had killed Harry's only hope of happiness, killed a personal friend.
She had just shook hands with Bellatrix Lestrange, the cold blooded murderer of Sirius Black.
She moved so quick that Draco almost missed her, but his spell hit true. She stood paralyzed on the spot tears streaming down her face as Draco moved to stand in front of her.
"Let me go" she hissed as Malfoy leaned against the railing and looked at the ring that Bellatrix had put on his finger nonchalantly.
"Only if you go down the stairs" he said as she glared at him.
"Not a chance Malfoy, let me go"
"Then no"
"Do you know what she did?! Do you know who she has killed?"
"I dare say she has killed hundreds of people Granger" he said examining his father's wand sheath and looking utterly bored. "But you are not about to bring her to justice"
"Let me go" Hermione said again, her voice dead calm. Malfoy sighed.
"As much as seeing Bellatrix wipe the floor with you would be amusing Granger, It does not work in very well with my plans" he said wiping the tears from her face with her cloak. "So this is in order I am afraid" he pointed his wand directly at her face.
"You wouldn't dare" she hissed dangerously.
"Watch me" he said and she knew he was serious. "Imperio" he said as her glare faded off her face and she looked rather blank.
"I hate you" she muttered softly as she almost smiled.
"Don't fight it Granger, or I will make this unpleasant" Malfoy drawled relieving her of her paralysis. "Now down the stairs"
She didn't move.
"Three"
She stood still.
"Two"
Her body began to turn towards the top of the stairs.
"I warned you" Looking like he would rather be eating slugs than this, he gave her a hard knock to the back of the head, knocking her out and gathered her into his arms.
He walked down the stairs and through the bar dumped her unceremoniously on the ground outside.
"Problem Malfoy?" Yuri asked as Draco walked back inside and took a pitcher of water from one of the tables.
"No, the Fox just can't hold her liquor" he said as he took out the dagger again and re spelled it to a different location. Her put it in her hand and activated it as he poured the water over her face. She sat up quickly and screamed something rather justified for the moment at him before disappearing from sight.
"Malfoy" Yuri called as he prepared himself to apparate to the same location.
"What is it" he answered over his shoulder as Yuri tossed a bottle to him. "For your father"
Draco looked at Yuri suspiciously.
"Draco you are much too young to act senior Malfoy, even if I haven't met him and you carry you wand in the left hand, now go free him"
Malfoy didn't hesitate. There was a loud crack and he was gone.
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Disclaimer: I don't own this and I am evidently making no money from it so if you sued it would be rather pointless.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter five: Answers In Azka
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The swirls of colour stopped abruptly as she arrived and her legs almost buckled beneath her as she landed on the stone floor, but she still stood. Where she stood, she had no idea, the darkness was almost complete, but from the chill wind that was almost blowing her over she figured that she was standing outside.
"Bout time" snapped a sour voice from the darkness. "I'll take that back now, before you pollute it"
Hermione felt the dagger that she had been holding yanked out of her hand.
"Hello to you to Malfoy, yes I have been having a wonderful Christmas, how about you?" She said sarcastically. He snorted in reply. "Oh what was I doing expecting a civil greeting from a Malfoy"
"Watch it Granger, or you won't live to see Christmas" He said as she rolled her eyes.
This was going to be more difficult than she had expected.
"Lumos" Hermione muttered holding her wand before her, its tip flaring into light.
"Nox" Malfoy hissed extinguishing the light. "What are you doing Granger, do you want us caught?!"
Hermione's eyes were slowly adjusting to the light and she realized that they were standing in a filthy alley way. It looked inhabited, but the lack of noise was unnerving.
"Where are we?" Hermione snapped as Malfoy pushed her in the direction of a faint light.
"We are in the wizarding Village Azka in Murmaska" Malfoy snapped as Hermione looked at him shocked.
"We are in Russia?!" she demanded as Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"Shut up Granger and follow me" he said walking ahead in the semi darkness in the direction of the light, that was filtering through a doorway with an old sign hanging above it written in Russian. Just as she was about to follow him into the room, he turned and led her down another alleyway, even narrower than the one they had just left.
"Put these on" Malfoy whispered pausing by another doorway and tossing her a set of velvet black robes and a cloak to match. "Tie your hair back as well, and put your wand away"
"Why?!" she demanded furiously.
"You don't have to, if you like, you can just start walking home" Malfoy said sourly.
She decided to comply, passing beyond the threshold of annoyance in the process.
"What I'm not going to pollute these as well?" she snapped.
"They aren't mine, keep them" he said as she realized something else.
"Malfoy just where am I going to change?"
Malfoy, it seemed hadn't thought of this either.
"Change here, it's not like I am going to look" Malfoy snapped turning the other way. Hermione however was not as fine with this idea as he was.
"Shimist" she snapped pointing her wand first behind her then above and finally in front. A shield of impassable mist encircled her, blocking her from view.
"hurry up" Malfoy muttered as she struggled into the robes, they were almost a skintight fit and decorated with a silver belt pattern at the waist before falling in almost an A-line skirt. "This doesn't look like a traditional robe" Hermione mused mostly to herself, but was replied to anyway.
"It was the traditional Dress robe in Russia, The wife of the great wizards Tsar, Ivanova started the trend" he drawled in a bored tone.
"It amazes me that you know that Malfoy, with a father like yours" Hermione said as she pulled the cloak over her shoulders and transfigured a piece of string that was hanging from her school robes into a ribbon.
"I have a mother as well Granger" he snapped as she shrunk her school robe and put them in her pocket.
"Oh so I struck a nerve did I?" she asked as she started deleting the spell around her. By the little she could see of Malfoy in the darkness, she knew she had.
"Say another word on that subject Granger, and I'll leave you here for dead" he said viciously as she finished tying her hair back.
"Whatever Malfoy, now what?" she asked as he looked at her appearance critically.
"Raise your head high and look down to no one" he snapped starting back for the doorway of light. As they walked in the door, Hermione was about to ask what the place was, but stopped short. There was no need.
It was a pub, the smell alone told her that, she didn't need to see the men sprawled over tables, drunk, cradling drinks, or in the case of at least one man that looked like he hadn't showered for a month, drowning in them. As she entered the door, she became uncomfortably aware that all the eyes in the room that were still in conscious heads had turned to her.
Malfoy, who didn't seem to notice, or most likely didn't care started over to the bar and called out to what looked to be the owner. He was as tall as Hagrid, but was well shaven and had a mustache above a grimace that would have done professor McGonagall proud.
"Malfoy" he said in a deep Russian accent, but his suspicious eyes were on Hermione. "Who is this fox?"
Malfoy, who it seemed, was pained at hearing Hermione Granger called a fox, put on a face that made him look so much like his father, that it was unnerving. "None of your business, now which room"
"Awaited in three" The bar keeper growled his eyes still on Hermione, who was beginning to feel very uncomfortable beneath his gaze.
"Thank you Yuri" Malfoy snapped stepping in Yuri's line of sight and giving him a challenging glare.
"Come Hermione, we are awaited" Malfoy said as he took her arm elegantly, but roughly and lead her towards some stairs at the far end of the room. As soon as they had climbed out of sight of the people below, Malfoy let go of her as if she had burned him.
"Great, I need to wash my hands now" he sighed as Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Hermione?" She asked as he glared at her.
"That is your name isn't it Granger?" he asked coolly continuing up the stairs.
"Where are we going?"
"To meet someone"
"Who?"
"The one person that I can not stand as far as I could throw her" Malfoy snapped as Hermione followed after him.
"Which is?"
"Merlin what is this, 100 questions?!" He snapped. "Just follow me, keep your mouth shut, and don't speak unless you are spoken to"
Hermione was not about to be ordered around in such a fashion and was about to inform Malfoy of the fact when she noticed Malfoy's appearance. His hair was longer, almost just beyond his ears, not slicked back as usual and he was dressed exactly the same way that Lucius Malfoy had been on the previous occasions she had seen him. He was even carrying Lucius' wand sheath that he had carried everywhere.
"Yuri thought that you were Lucius" She said in a flawed voice as Malfoy kept climbing the stairs.
"What of it?" Malfoy snapped but Hermione fell silent and followed. 'Interesting, very interesting' she though as they reached a dimly lit corridor lined with doors. Walking to number three, he tapped it three times with his wand and muttered something in a different language. 'Russian most likely' Hermione though as the door creaked open.
"Who is it?" Demanded a voice from the shadow as Hermione followed him through the door.
"It is just me Aunt" Malfoy said plastering a smile onto his face that had 'faked' written all over it. "And a- 'friend' from school"
He reached in front of Hermione and closed the door giving her a warning glance as he did so. He wanted her to play along.
"Your mother never mentioned that you had a girlfriend" she said cautiously as she moved slightly out of the shadows so she could see Hermione better. "A Slytherin I trust"
"A Ravenclaw actually, but would have done Salazar proud" Malfoy said stepping lightly on Hermione's foot as Hermione tried not to laugh at the fact that Malfoy had to deal with the thought that Mudblood Granger was his girlfriend. "Aunt this is Nicole Déloncré, Only Daughter of one of the noblest houses in France"
Hermione gave a slight bow as the woman smiled wickedly, her gaunt face almost glowing pale white in the darkness around her. She had a tangle of dark hair around her face that added to the effect.
"Very well picked Draco, you will do the bloodlines proud" she said starting across the room towards them.
"Now dear boy, what brings you here?" she asked as Hermione edged slightly behind Malfoy. This woman scared her. She reminded her of someone, but she couldn't quiet think of whom.
"I want to know when the Dark lord will move on Azkaban" Malfoy said as his aunt shot a look at Hermione. "And where my father's cell is"
"What makes you trust this witch so much" His Aunt sniffed.
"Because her loyalties lie with us, and her father rots in Azkaban with mine" Malfoy said his voice as expressionless as his face.
'How can he lie like that?' Hermione thought as she nodded her head once when his aunt looked at her. Suddenly a little voice knocked on the door of her brain. 'Hello, Draco Malfoy, of course he can lie'.
"Why do you want to know when?" His Aunt asked suspiciously.
"Because it coincides with my plans for my father" He said smoothly as Hermione gave a start in surprise as she realized what he meant. Malfoy shot her a look, but it was too late, his Aunt had caught it.
"What is the matter Nicole" Malfoy asked faking concern as his eyes flashed violently.
"Oh it's just-"Hermione had to cover up quickly, the look in Malfoy's eyes told her this was not the time to screw this up. "Oh my father, I miss him so, it has been dreadful without him" she cried faking a sob. "The other families are competing for our title and are tearing our families name apart without my fathers power behind it"
Malfoy looked at her dumbfounded wondering how the hell she came up with a lie like that, as his aunt nodded knowingly and pat her on the shoulder.
"Oh you poor thing" she said as Hermione pretended to squeezed out some fake tears. Malfoy had made lying look like something hard to do, but this came almost naturally. She wiped away the fake tears as Malfoy's aunt continued again "But I am sure that if you align your house with the Malfoy's, the pressure should recede"
Hermione nodded, as she looked at the ground. Align her house the Malfoy's? If the situation had not been so important she would have laughed. Wait till Ron and Harry heard this one.
"Well one problem at a time Nicole" Malfoy said as his aunt turned back to him.
"Well if you are planning anything, then tonight is the time to plan it Draco, at midnight" she said going back over to the corner she had been slouching in as they had came in. Malfoy gave Hermione a slight nod to let her know to keep up what she had started, before his Aunt returned this time with her wand and two silver rings.
"Draco, your father is on the third floor, that is generally where English wizards are kept, and Nicole, I'd bet that your father is on the fifth"
"How did you learn the castle of Azkaban?" Hermione asked dreading the answer.
"I was an occupant, because I made a stand for our lord" She said dismissively.
"Black eyed peas" Malfoy muttered under his breath.
"What was that Draco?" his Aunt asked as he smiled and Hermione almost fell over backward in shock. She knew very well what he had meant. Shut up.
"Nothing, just thinking aloud" he said as she nodded. "Well thank you Aunt, but we must be going; we have plans to see through"
"Wait, if you two are going in together, wear these" She said grabbing Draco's hand and pushing the ring on before he could react. She reached for Hermione's hand, but Malfoy intercepted her taking the ring from her.
"We can organize all of this later" Malfoy said quickly as his aunt looked at him suspiciously then smiled. "Don't be modest, if you two are together, it should be nothing new"
Hermione very quickly caught on to the reason that Malfoy did not want that ring on her finger and helped.
"We haven't made and commitments like that yet" she said hurriedly blushing.
"No better time to start" she said dangerously. "Draco, by tradition, if you don't wear it you will be disgracing all four houses, It was Mrs. Blacks wish for the rest of the generations"
"I know" Malfoy said cutting his Aunt from giving them the history speech that he was determined for Hermione not to hear.
"Then put that ring on Miss Nicole's finger"
It was the longest wait ever for him to reach up and slide the ring onto Hermione's right hand ring finger. Suddenly both the rings glowed gold before fading back to their original colour. Malfoy and Hermione looked at each other dumbfounded as his aunt took her wand and started tracing a diagram in the air. Malfoy recovered first and turned his attention back to his Aunt, who was transferring the diagram onto a piece of paper.
"We must be going, we have to be at the manor by eight and I have a few things to take care of before that" He said as his aunt handed him the paper.
"Be cautious, both of you" she said as Malfoy started for the door and his aunt shook Hermione's hand. "You will make a fine recruit to our lord's cause"
"Come Nicole" Malfoy said grabbing her arm in the same fashion he had earlier downstairs and leading her outside the door. "Good bye Aunt Bell" he said as he closed the door and forced Hermione quickly towards the stairs not giving her a chance to say goodbye.
Suddenly something clicked in Hermione's brain. Something Harry had mentioned when she had commented of the picture of the blacks family tree that Harry kept in his photo album.
"Aunt Bell?" she said quietly as Malfoy ushered her down the stairs. "As in your mother's sister?"
Malfoy stayed silent, but that was answer enough. She suddenly felt violently sick. She felt disgusted with herself and enraged that she had taken no action when she had been standing in the same room as her. She had just shook the hand of the creature that had killed Harry's only hope of happiness, killed a personal friend.
She had just shook hands with Bellatrix Lestrange, the cold blooded murderer of Sirius Black.
She moved so quick that Draco almost missed her, but his spell hit true. She stood paralyzed on the spot tears streaming down her face as Draco moved to stand in front of her.
"Let me go" she hissed as Malfoy leaned against the railing and looked at the ring that Bellatrix had put on his finger nonchalantly.
"Only if you go down the stairs" he said as she glared at him.
"Not a chance Malfoy, let me go"
"Then no"
"Do you know what she did?! Do you know who she has killed?"
"I dare say she has killed hundreds of people Granger" he said examining his father's wand sheath and looking utterly bored. "But you are not about to bring her to justice"
"Let me go" Hermione said again, her voice dead calm. Malfoy sighed.
"As much as seeing Bellatrix wipe the floor with you would be amusing Granger, It does not work in very well with my plans" he said wiping the tears from her face with her cloak. "So this is in order I am afraid" he pointed his wand directly at her face.
"You wouldn't dare" she hissed dangerously.
"Watch me" he said and she knew he was serious. "Imperio" he said as her glare faded off her face and she looked rather blank.
"I hate you" she muttered softly as she almost smiled.
"Don't fight it Granger, or I will make this unpleasant" Malfoy drawled relieving her of her paralysis. "Now down the stairs"
She didn't move.
"Three"
She stood still.
"Two"
Her body began to turn towards the top of the stairs.
"I warned you" Looking like he would rather be eating slugs than this, he gave her a hard knock to the back of the head, knocking her out and gathered her into his arms.
He walked down the stairs and through the bar dumped her unceremoniously on the ground outside.
"Problem Malfoy?" Yuri asked as Draco walked back inside and took a pitcher of water from one of the tables.
"No, the Fox just can't hold her liquor" he said as he took out the dagger again and re spelled it to a different location. Her put it in her hand and activated it as he poured the water over her face. She sat up quickly and screamed something rather justified for the moment at him before disappearing from sight.
"Malfoy" Yuri called as he prepared himself to apparate to the same location.
"What is it" he answered over his shoulder as Yuri tossed a bottle to him. "For your father"
Draco looked at Yuri suspiciously.
"Draco you are much too young to act senior Malfoy, even if I haven't met him and you carry you wand in the left hand, now go free him"
Malfoy didn't hesitate. There was a loud crack and he was gone.
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