Hermione smiled, but Draco was still looking sulky. Hermione knew that she had upset him. She couldn't lie to herself she was falling in love with him. She should at least tell him. She looked at him. He was laying next to her, looking at the ceiling. She scooted so that she was closer to him and glomped on top of him. It didn't cheer him up.
"Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." He sighed. "Draco, please. I am, I think, falling in love with you. But we can't rush this, and we have more important things to think about right now. When we leave, when we're back at school we can work on us." He looked at her, his expression softening. He put his hand to her cheek.
"So soft…You're right. When this is all over we'll work on us." He sat up and began to kiss her again, wrapping his arms around her. It felt so good, to finally have her in his arms, on his bed. Would she share his bed tonight? She seemed annoyed earlier but she hadn't actually answered his question. Perhaps it was that she hadn't decided yet. He resolved to ask again later. He pulled away from her and said,
"You haven't opened your other present yet Hermione." She looked at him.
"Other present?" She looked at the floor. There was another, smaller package wrapped in paper next to the bag. She looked at him quizzically, and he slid off her, watching her walk to the package on the floor. She picked it up and pulled off the paper. Inside the paper there was a black velvety box.
"Draco? What is it?" He merely smiled and waited. She opened it.
"Draco…I can't accept this, you need the money too badly." Hermione pulled out a silver ring with a small blue stone set in it.
"It's worth far more than money. One of my relatives gave it to me, a second cousin of mine, I think. Her name was Andromeda; I didn't see much of her except when I was very little. She told me to save it and give it someone that I really loved." He smiled at her. Hermione, however, was frowning softly.
"Andromeda? She was one of Sirius' cousins…Harry told me that your family and the Blacks were related," she added watching the question pass through Draco's head. She smiled and slipped in onto her right ring finger and admired it.
"Are you sure you want to give this to me Draco? I mean, It's worth so much to you."
"It's a promise ring. It's a symbol of my promise to make you as happy as I can." Hermione wanted to ask him so many cynical questions but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Maybe it would work, maybe not. There was no sense in not trying though, because you can't prove a negative. She sighed, and looked at the clock. It was about three in the afternoon and everything seemed to be taken care of. Draco's money was well kept, as well as his clothes and books. She was alone, with Draco Malfoy in his family mansion. Suddenly the door opened a crack, and shut. Hermione looked over at Draco, who had his hand on his wand. It must have been the house elf, it must have been. But what had he been doing? Then the door burst open and Lucius Malfoy was standing in the doorway. Hermione cursed loudly, and pulled her wand out from her pocket. Draco stood in front of her, his arm thrust out in protection.
"Draco, what have I told you about playing with mudbloods?" Lucius asked coldly. Draco's eyes narrowed, and he did not answer.
"What have I told you!" Draco shifted in his place.
"What you told me was bullshit!" He was beginning to flush pink. Within seconds Draco was contorting with pain. Lucius had use the Cruciatus curse on him, and he was fighting it well. He was leaning over, but he had not fallen. Hermione quickly used a disarming spell, any spell, and she succeeded in distracting Lucius, giving Draco some time to recover.
"Hermione, no-"
"Be quiet!" Lucius ordered. "So this is the mudblood my son throws everything away for? What's so special about you anyway? Are you especially pain resistant perhaps?"
He turned to her and performed the curse. It was a blinding pain. Later Hermione would confide in Harry that it was like being hit by a train from every angle, the light, the sound, the physical pains all bore down on her and she wanted to die. The one thing she wanted most in the world was to die, she wanted the bright light to fade and the feeling of every particle being stretched and squashed at the same time. She had heard of something called the bends, a condition scuba divers can get. This was a hundred times worse.
She was ready to let go when she saw something small and blue flashing, and she could feel her hand, then her arm and soon her chest. Her whole body was free from the curse, and though she was weakened she no longer felt like dying. Draco was attacking his father with the Cruciatus curse back, but it was not having very much effect. Hermione thought grimly that Lucius was probably quite used to the curse from a much more powerful caster. Hermione struggled onto her feet and put in her own Cruciatus. She knew it was illegal, and she didn't care. She wanted Lucius to feel the pain he had caused Draco for loving her, the pain that he had just caused him. She was furious and nothing was going to stop her from making him suffer as much as possible.
Except, Draco had lain a hand on her and was shaking her. She could hear his voice from somewhere far away, he was calling her name. She looked down and saw Lucius laying at her feet, blood running out of his nose. She felt like being sick. She knew just from looking at him that he was dead, stone cold, dead. She looked at the wand in her hand. Had she done it? Was the Cruciatus curse fatal? No..it wasn't…but if it wasn't her it was…Draco? She turned to look at him. He was standing next to her, his arm slipped around her waist to keep her standing up. But he wasn't looking at her, or even at his father. He was looking at his mother who was standing in the doorway, a bloody statue at her feet.