I do not own any of the Harry Potter paraphernalia. JKR does.


It was now several days after Hermione was abducted from the castle and she had spent her time in her room mostly. Voldemort, as he said, was out on 'business' and left her with no instructions for what to do in his absence.

Hermione was now on her way down to the kitchen, which she had bravely sought for the day before, to find something to eat. Dinners in the manor were nothing special, with hardly any food. It turned out that there was many house elves employed and she wondered if she could persuade them to join S.P.E.W., although it wasn't a big priority at the moment.

"What would the miss like tonight?" One elf asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Just something small, thanks. Are you the only one here?"

"Yes miss. 'Tis us elves bedtime." The little elf hurried off to fetch Hermione's food, leaving her in the empty room.

Feeling a cool breeze, Hermione shivered and wondered where it came from. She looked around and saw no movement, thinking nothing of it. Then, out of nowhere, she felt something brush her shoulder, as someone had walked past her. Hermione got up and looked around again wondering if she was becoming paranoid, when someone pushed her back down on her chair with great force. Becoming frantic she started to shake uncontrollably, and then felt a pair of invisible lips on hers. She froze, frightened and unsure of what to do, when he stopped the kiss, leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Other people have cloaks, too."

Hermione sat in utter shock as she heard the invisible being leave, just as the house elf re-entered the kitchen.

"What is wrong? Has Tian upset miss?" The house elf, supposedly named Tian, said quickly when she saw Hermione's face.

"N-no, I'm fine..." Hermione said, still unable to focus correctly. She ate quickly and hurried out of the kitchen, bumping into none other than Draco Malfoy in the hall.

"What's the hurry mud- Granger?" he spat, correcting himself before he said mudblood. His face was stuck in the Malfoy sneer.

"Oh nothing, nothing." She replied rather fast, stopping to speak to him and continuing to her room. Malfoy watched as she hurried away, grinning evilly.
"OK, you don't think anyone has noticed that Malfoy has been gone almost a week with no explanation?" Ron asked Harry as the played chess in the common room.

"I'm sure people have noticed, but he probably came up with some excuse. Dumbledore wouldn't let him leave otherwise." Harry moved his knight, which in turn was destroyed brutally by Ron's queen.

"He could have snuck out."

"How? I strongly doubt he could without getting caught." Ron thought for a moment.

"You snuck out plenty of times to go to Hogsmeade. You just used your-"

"Cloak." They said together.

"You think...?" Harry questioned.

"He could... I mean, his father is Lucius Malfoy. He probably got it from his dad, who got it from You-know-who." Ron moved his queen and destroyed Harry's other knight.

"But we can't be sure. He could have found another way." They both fell silent, lost for an explanation. They continued their game until Ron won, although without his usual triumphant gloating. Harry could tell he missed Hermione a lot, and he tried not to show it too much but was not successful.

"Well I'm going to bed." Ron said, looking almost as worn down as Lupin did in his days at Hogwarts.

"'Night." Harry got up and put the chess away, when Ginny came into the common room.

"Harry! I've just heard some news from Dumbledore! He says that they have new leads; that Lucius Malfoy should be a suspicious candidate, and he probably had a significant part in the abduction!" she came in and sat down next to Harry, who sighed.

"I figured as much. Malfoy has been 'absent' for almost a week now." Ginny looked at him as he spoke quietly. She said nothing, contemplating what he said.

"It feels odd not having her here..." she said finally, her voice trailing off. She missed Hermione a lot, for they were like best friends and had become very close over the past couple years. Unable to stop them, tears started to flow down her face. Harry looked at her and embraced her in a warm hug, comforting her.

"I know Ginny, I know."
Hermione was thoroughly shocked at what happened in the kitchen the previous night. In her haste she had run right past Malfoy, the leading suspect. She figured at had to have been him... Who else was there that would want to rendezvous with her, late at night, in a kitchen, under some form of invisibility, and plant one on her? She shuddered as a picture of Lucius Malfoy floated through her mind.

The time was now 5:03am and Hermione was dreading the thought of moving. She had woken up an hour ago from a very strange dream involving a clown and a giant set of lips, and was unable to go back to sleep. Thought lead to thought and she found herself thinking about Harry and Ron.

She hoped they missed her, but then realized that before she was taken Ron and her had a fight. They fought all the time, but this particular argument was different.

"Ron how could you!" Hermione shouted. Ron said nothing. "How could you, when I poured my heart out to you like a fool!"

"I thought you were with Krum! You said you were going with him for the summer, AGAIN!"

"Well I didn't, did I? I went to Paris with my family! And what do I find when I come back?" Ron was silent again. "You, with your tongue down Parvati's throat!!"

"Well..." he replied, lost for words. "We finally realized how we felt about each other, and things were going fine, until HE showed up and you decided to run off with him!"

Hermione fell silent. They stood, avoiding catching each other's eyes, for several minutes until she finally spoke.

"I didn't go with him. I knew I would rather be with you." She said quietly. "But my parents wanted to go to Paris for winter break... There was nothing I could do."

"You could have said you didn't want to go. Or you could have told me you weren't going with the Bulgarian fool." Ron spat. Tears stinging her eyes, Hermione turned and left the common room, Ron watching as she walked away.

Hermione was now not sure if she even wanted to see him again. She had trusted Ron and he betrayed her, and there was no way she could forgive him for it.

"What am I thinking?" she said to herself. "Of course I would forgive him. I'm not that thick."

She got up out of bed and dressed; ready to go find breakfast. Voldemort was gone again, on 'business', and Lucius... well, Lucius couldn't care less if Hermione died in front of him, no less performing Avada Kedavra on her himself.

The manor felt big and empty as she made her way down to the kitchen. She still had a fear of another kitchen escapade, and looked around corners before she proceeded down hallways. She reached the kitchen where many house elves were at work, cleaning and cooking various foods.

"Is there anything Tian can get for miss?" The familiar house elf said, running up to Hermione.

"Uh... could I have some toast please?" she replied, sitting down in the same seat she sat in the night before. Tian scurried off to fetch Hermione's food.

While she was gone, none else but Malfoy strolled into the kitchen, to Hermione's misfortune.

"Granger." He nodded towards her as he walked by. Making sure his back was facing her, a giant sly grin erupted on his smug face.

Hermione said nothing. She was lost for words; not knowing whether to bring last night's incident up or not. But to her luck (and at the same time, bad luck) Malfoy decided to say something.

"Did you get a good night's sleep? You were up rather late." Hermione could tell he was trying to keep a convincing face; the corners of his lips were twitching madly.

"No, in fact I didn't. It seems someone couldn't sleep either."

"Why whatever do you mean?"

"Cut the innocence, Malfoy. I know it was you." The smile he was trying to hide was now strewn across his face.

"Me? What do you mean? I think you have gone mad, Granger." He laughed slightly and Tian re-entered the room with a plate stacked high with toast.

"But," Malfoy whispered, grabbing a slice, "I'd be careful if I were you. Especially when wandering the halls late at night." He bit into the toast savagely and left the kitchen, the same smug smirk plastered on his face.
Okay, im sry it is taking me such a long time to update, but i am busy with other things at the moment. Again, I appologize if Malfoy is slightly OoC, but I am trying hard to make him as evil as possible (i don't know why it is hard for me...) Keep up the great reviews!!