Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other character. Neither do I own the places. All I own is the plot. The rest belongs to J.K Rowling.

Chapter eighteen: A familiar voice

She hit the floor with a thud. Draco, too, fell down. A loud scream of pain filled the cold damp room as he fell down on his leg. She scrambled up and wildly looked around, stepping in front of him protectivly.

There was no one else there. She dropped to the floor again, this time facing Draco.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

He took a while before answering.

"My leg...it hurts..."

She looked at it. it wasn't making a strange angle, so it didn't have to be broken. She layed a hand on it, he didn't shout.

"I...don't think it's broken..." she said thoughtfully.

He sat up and looked her in her eyes.

"You should have left me. Now you're back in this prison, you could've made it."

"No. I'm not like- like some other people. How could I leave you behind."

She softly caressed the scar on his face. "I could never leave you behind."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. She closed her eyes and kissed him back. A sweet kiss.

"How touching."

A strangely familiar voice broke them apart. There, in the door opening was a figure.

Enveloped in a dark cloak and mask, was Pansy Parkinson.

"Long time no see." She said with her eyes on Draco.

He stared back coldly. "I had hoped to keep it that way."

"Aw, poor Draco. Can't admit you missed me, can you."

Hermione clutched his hand. Pansy shot a look of daggers at her.

"Don't you touch Draco with those filthy hands."

She strode forward and slapped Hermione in her face. Hremione simply stared back at her, her own hand risen to her cheek. Draco stared at both girls.

"Listen Parkinson, I don't like you, never have. You seem to have a nice time with my dad and his oafs. Bugger off! Don't you dare call me a traitor when you yourself are nothing more than a weak lowlife leach, who clings to all things powerful, in the vain hope to get some power yourself."

Pansy looked taken aback, but she retaliated quickly. "I came to get you out, Draco. You ofcourse, just you. But now I think I'll leave you here to rot."

"I'd rather stay here then ever marry an ugly, twofaced, scheeming banshee like you!" he yelled.

She huffed, turned around and left. A satisfied grin washed over his face. At least he still had the power to insult. Hermione looked at him with tiny eyes.

"Draco? What did you mean just now...?"

"Oh. Of course...you wouldn't know. Well, Parkinson and me, we're betrothed. Have been since birth. It's how things are done, how we do things...how purebloods do things. Believe me, I wouldn't want to marry someone like her..."

He took her hand in his. "You don't have to be jealous or anything. It's only Parkinson, you know. I've got to compete with the boy who defied pure evil as a baby."

"You don't have to compete with anyone Draco and you know that."

She examined the door.

"Well...as far as I can see this door can't be opened. And I don't think there's a second way out of here...we'll have to think of something else...what if-"

Her last words were lost when the door opened with a loud squeek and three cloaked men came inside.

"Mulciber...Travers...Antonin...nice to see you're still doing your jobs properly. Too bad you're on the wrong side." Draco sneered.

"No, young malfoy. You are on the loosing side." One of them said slyly, his voice sounded like a slippery eal.

Draco was forcefully grabbed by his shoulders.

"We're going to take you up to your father. He'll have a nice little surprise for you."

"Let him come down here. Or is he afraid to get dirt on his robes."

"You insolent little...Crucio!"

Hermione shreeked as she heard Draco's cries of pain. One of the others jumped forward and forced her down on her knees. He held her hair in one hand, forcing her head up. The other hand had her arm twisted behind her back.

"Watch him, Mudblood. Watch him and learn what we do to traitors."

Tears streamed down her face as she saw Draco's body arching and bending unnaturally as he tried to make the pain go away. His cries filled her heart with horror. Then he stopped.

He stopped crying, he stopped moving. All she could hear was soft whimpering. She opened her mouth to say something but all the air was knocked out of her lungs as a boot suddenly connected with her stommach.

She fell over, face down on the stone floor. Another kick followed and a cry of pain rolled down her lips. Then everything was silent. She didn't dare move, even though the curiosity was burning her up. A cold voice explained who had entered.

"Antonin, stop that. You have much to learn yet. Get them up."

Roughly she was pulled up by her hair. A wand was pointed at her face. Another at Draco's.

"Now, isn't this cozy." Lucius said. "You see, you both have information that I'd love to have. But you won't tell me, you'd rather die than tell me anything. That's why I though up a new rule for this little game."

The smile on his face widened but did not reach his eyes, that remained cold and icy.

"If you don't tell me what I want to hear, the other will suffer. And since you love each other so much, I think we can solve this problem in no time at all."

Lucius smiled again. It was still cold and false.

"So...Draco...tell me...who is your leader. Where is the hide-out. Where? Who joined? Who do you work with! I want names, places, dates. Anything."

Draco glanced at Hermione. She shook her head.

"He won't tell you Lucius. He won't betray us!" she said bravely.

"He won't?" Lucius looked at his son's determined face. "I thought you meant more to him, mudblood. Antonin..."

"Crusio!"

The air was knocked out of her lungs. Knife stabs. Electricity, fire, everything at once. She wanted to die, to drop dead on the spot. She would do anything, just to make it stop.

Anything?

No. Never. She wouldn't betray Dumbledore. Not the Order. She'd rather die.

The pain left her body. For a moment she thought she really was dead, but hitting the ground with her face made her realise she wasn't.

"Right, the Filth. Give me names, who are in your precious Order. Where do you meet. Where do you hide. Tell me!"

She said nothing.

"Crucio!"

She closed her eyes and felt horrified when Draco's shouts and cries entered her ears. She could feel his pain. She could see his body twisting, trying to escape the pain, even though her eyes were closed.

She whimpered. When the screaming stopped she could only hear her own heavy breathing. Draco wasn't moving.

Lucius stared at him for a moment. Was there a hint of desperation in his face? He quickly turned around and left the dungeon, his black cloak billowing behind him. Travers, Mulciber and Antonin followed their leader swiftly.

The silence surrounded her. Only after a few minutes did she dare move again. She saw cuts and bruises on her arms and legs. Her face, too, felt as if it was covered with cuts.

Draco's body was only a few feet away. She crawled over on her hands and knees. His eyes were closed, his breathing light.

She layed a hand on his forehead and whispered his name. Out of his torn pockethole came a stick...his wand! That meant she still had hers too. She took out her own wand and whispered a curative spell.

Suddenly he started to move again. He coughed. A splatter of blood landed on her robes. He didn't open his eyes, but she knew he was okay.

She folded up her cloak and made a little pillow out of it and put it under his head.

"You just rest."

She seated herself next to him, her eyes and wand pointed at the door. The first one to come in would get a taste of her spellpower before she'd let them be beaten and pained again.

She waited. And waited.

Slowly her eyes got heavy. She let out a sigh. As she put her wand up her sleave she layed down on the ground, resting her head on Draco's chest. A few moments of rest couldn't hurt...

"And you will not speak, again? Pity. It seems that our punishment doesn't work. Maybe I should use a new method...or maybe just an old one...a very old one."

Dolohov smiled sinister. All Draco could see was a glowing tip of a metal bar. Red hot. His eyes opened wide. Dolohov just smiled again.

"Will you talk now?"

phew...the week of parties and only parties is almost over...not that I hate parties, but too many parties in a week can be very exhausting. The last one is tonight. But I found some time yesterday to write a small, confusing and pointless little fic called Shadow, so if any of you is interested, I'd like to hear your opinion. (and suggestions for a better title are very welcome)

CozzaGirl16: Thank you I'll update soon, and the story is VERY slowly nearing the end...so not long now before the ending will be revealed. There are about...six chapters left to go...

Dark Angels: Yeah...one of my friends and I keep saying "The Fellowship is breaking, it has already begun." Because our group of friends is slowly falling apart. But of course I'll get some new friends. Well, it WAS called Draco and Hermione's story, so I figured that they'd have to tell it themselves. But keeping it like that too long wouldn't be interesting for very long. But I'm glad you liked it. please check out my little fic called Shadow. I'd really appreciate your opinion on that one.

Sportygirl-that-loves-hpb: Thanks very much.

Mojo the Rock Chick Munchkin: I don't know about that...hp/hg CAN work out...but only if you get it just right. Of course dm/hg works better because he's a bit of a bad boy and she's a goodie goodie...

Regina-terrae: Thanks!

I'll update soon! I promise! I'm leaving for Danmark in a week or two and I want to update a few times before I leave. So the more you review, the more I update...or is that a REALLY lame and 'subtle' way to get you to review ;) Anyway, I'll see you guys at the next chapter!
-Raven55