(( Hey, readers! I wrote an extra long chapter this time because my other ones have been rather short. So how are Hermione and Draco going to get out of this one? Yeah, I had a hard time thinking of a way too. Reviewers, your ideas are really helping me and I actually use some of them because they are brilliant! Thank you all of you! I'm almost at 100 reviews! *does a dance* 100 reviews has always been my dream. . . well I hope you guys like this one, review when you're done!))
Disclaimer: J.K. owns everything. Not the plot though.
Draco and Hermione stared dumbfounded at the looming figures before them. It was Draco who recovered his wits first. He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before whispering, "Play along."
Suddenly he grabbed both of her arms and brought them behind her back. Lucius turned to stare at them. Jerking her savagely, Draco yelled, " You filthy mudblood girl! How dare you defy a Malfoy! Trying to escape will get you nowhere." For good measure, he kneed her from behind, causing her to drop to her knees. Suddenly Narcissa burst out of the fireplace after Lucius and Lemanus. Now all three of them were staring at Draco and Hermione.
Draco kicked her again, harder. Hermione took it as a cue to start crying. She sobbed and put her head down, trying to make the tears real.
Lucius's cold eyes bored down onto her bowed head. Lemanus was trying to stare into Draco's eyes, though his head was bowed also.
"What is this?" Lucius hissed, looking down at Draco accusingly. Draco forced his face to fill with rage.
"Filthy mudblood! She stole my wand. . ." Draco paused, apparently overcome with rage, but really trying to make up something to say next. ". . . unlocked her chains and the door without me seeing! She was halfway out the front door when I caught her!" Draco roared, looking down at her in disgust.
"I'm sorry," she whispered feebly. "I never should have tried it." She began sobbing into the carpet pitifully, and Draco was caught between laughing out loud at her superior acting skills and murdering his father on the spot. He decided that murdering his father would be the smarter one, and he looked up, true malice in his eyes.
"You say that this filth. . . tried to escape?" Lucius asked, practically spitting out the words. He looked as if he did not believe it. Draco inclined his head, hoping that he looked as if he could barely contain his rage.
In the meantime, Hermione noticed that something strange was taking place before her. Lemanus Gilroy had not taken his eyes off the top of Draco's head. Although this was strange in itself, even stranger was that Narcissa was giving Hermione a piercing glare from behind Lucius, looking from Lemanus to Draco and back. She is trying to tell me something, Hermione thought suddenly. Why wouldn't Lemanus take his eyes off of Draco? Hermione remembered when he had looked at her with those piercing, scrutinizing eyes. Those eyes that seemed to see all, seemed to know all. . . those eyes. Those eyes! Suddenly a jolt went through her like thunder. Lemanus Gilroy knew Legilimancy, Hermione was sure of it. . . and the most important part of Legilimancy was eye contact. All that Draco had to do was look up into Lemanus's eyes and their secret would be revealed. She had to warn Draco somehow.
"Malfoy!" she screamed fervently, trying to catch his eye. He looked down at her coldly, but there was a hint of confusion in his eyes. How could she tell him without being absolutely obvious?
"Not you, Malfoy," she said calmly, looking away from Draco, "the other one." At the same time she kicked his leg, nearly causing him to buckle with pain. She needed him to listen. She turned to Lucius and looked him in the eye.
"I have heard that. . . that. . . The Dark Lord is skilled at Legilimancy, or the reading of minds," she started slowly, hoping to catch his interest enough so that he would not silence her completely.
Lucius's eyes bulged with fury, but he was apparently interested. He muttered, "Go on, girl."
"And. . . I have heard that some of his servants. . . most of his servants, to be precise, are also skilled at the reading of minds. I have heard that eye contact must be kept or Legilimancy is not effective." Hermione kicked Draco again, but did not risk a look.
"What is the point of this, girl? Out with it!" Lucius snarled, losing his patience.
"You see. . . I've been considering learning Legilimancy myself," Hermione finished, trying to sound convincing.
Lemanus barked out a laugh, the first sound he had made all day. Although it was tempting, Hermione fought the urge to look at him. She had said all she could. Now she only hoped that Draco was shrewd enough to pick up her subtle hints.
"You," Lemanus began in his shrouded voice, "would never have the brains, the subtlety, or the blood to partake in such an art." Hermione kept her face lowered to the ground as he spoke.
"Enough of this obviously pointless conversation!" Lucius roared in disgust.
"Back to the matter at hand. You have acted irresponsibly, Draco, and deserve proper punishment. You left your wand unattended and let her escape. Inexcusable, really," Lucius said, his eyes bearing into Draco's. He looked down at a trembling Hermione,
"As for you. . ." Lucius started, but Narcissa put her arm on his shoulder.
"If I may, Lucius, the girl has done no harm and I don't see the point in punishing her," Narcissa stated calmly, her voice set in a bring drawl. Hermione wondered at how detached she sounded. Draco's father's head slowly turned to face Narcissa.
"Do you really think," he began, his voice growing gradually louder, " that I would let this sniveling vermin get away with DEFYING A MALFOY?! SHE WILL BE INFINITELY SORRY FOR WHAT SHE HAS DONE!" The roar shook the crests on the mantle place, and Narcissa backed against the wall, shocked into silence. Lucius turned back to Hermione. In a perfectly controlled voice, he said, " Tell me that you are sorry."
"I'm sorry," Hermione sobbed quietly.
"Master," Lucius added, barely a whisper.
"Master," she said desperately.
"Tell me that you will do anything I ask," Lucius whispered, a smile curling upon his face.
At this Hermione said nothing. She stayed on her knees, staring at the ground. That statement was something that she could not utter willingly. If she did, she was condemning herself to almost certain death. Draco looked up, sensing that Lucius was getting very angry. He took a menacing step toward Hermione, and Draco's heart began pounding.
"Say it," Draco said, more gently than he had meant to. He gave her arms a small squeeze. Draco knew his father too well to let her disobey.
Hermione looked up at Lucius, her eyes welling with tears. Her chin trembled as she pronounced, " I will do anything. . . you ask."
A smile, first a smirk, then growing broader, spread across his sickeningly pleased face.
"It is settled, then. I will tell you, Draco, what the girl is to do when the time comes.
Draco simply inclined his head, to many emotions inside of his to speak.
"Take her down to the dungeons if you will, Draco. We will discuss your punishment later. Come, Narcissa," Lucius said pompously, beckoning to her. With one last terrified glance backwards, Narcissa darted out of the room behind the two men.
Draco let go of Hermione's arms abruptly. She got up shakily at turned to stare at him.
"Not here," Draco muttered, pointing towards the door into the hall. Hermione nodded and started towards the door, Draco behind her. They proceeded down to the dungeons and into the cell. As soon as Draco shut the door, Hermione sighed and leaned against the wall. Draco shut his eyes, ashamed at what he had done. How could you have been so self centered, blaming everything on her? he asked himself, lowering his head in disgust. How would he explain? They both looked up at the same time, meeting each others eyes. To Draco's tremendous surprise, Hermione's face broke into a smile.
"That was some pretty fast talking, Mal–Draco. You should be an actor someday. Do you think he believed it?" she asked coyly.
"You mean you're not mad that I blamed absolutely everything on you?" he said, shocked into smirking with relief.
Hermione's faced turned serious. "What choice did you have? If you would've blamed yourself, he would've been furious. What use would it be for us to both take punishment? Besides, if Lucius found out that we. . . that we didn't hate each other, what would he do?"
"That's true," Draco said, gratefully taking some excuse to justify his actions. "But I still feel bad.
He carefully looked up at her and realized that she'd been staring at him. Hermione noticed that his eyes had filled with true remorse at what he'd done.
"Granger," Draco said, not bothering to correct himself this time, "do you really think that Lemanus knows how to read minds?"
"You got my clues then! You are smarter than I thought, Draco," Hermione said in her know-it-all tone.
"But we'll think about all this tomorrow. . . if you come and see me, that is," Hermione said, her voice taking and edge he had never heard.
" I just want you to know. . . I won't let him hurt you, Hermione," Draco said, his voice spiked with fury. "Everything's changed," Draco mused, more to himself than to her. Suddenly he wondered why he was being so sentimental these days. He remembered how had been only a few weeks ago, the emotionless son of a controlling father. Back then, his heart had beat faintly, and without purpose. Then, his skin had been pale as the light of the moon, his blue eyes dull. Now, his cheeks were slightly flushed, his eyes sparking with unhidden emotion for the first time. Now, he could feel his heart, strong within his chest, beating for a reason. And a small part of him believed, or wanted to believe, that the person that had changed him was Hermione.
Now Draco moved forward to stand opposite Hermione. Hermione closed her eyes, moving forward slightly. Draco was startled. Instead of kissing her, Draco reached out and gave her a fierce hug, which she returned. Draco had never been hugged by anyone, and he felt strangely warm and comforted. She pulled away slightly, looking into his eyes. He stared back.
"I. . . I guess I'll come see you tomorrow," he said softly, not taking his eyes off hers.
"I suppose you will," Hermione said softly. She seemed far away. How could I have thought that he would kiss me? She wondered in the back of her mind. She had made such a fool of herself. And, she added silently, I wanted him to kiss me.
There was no more denying it. For the first time in her life, Hermione had fallen for someone. And Harry would have a heart attack if he knew who it was.
(( A.N. What do you think Hermione's punishment will be? Tell me in your review!))