CHAPTER FOUR: Aidez-Moi

Silence was all around the dungeon.

"Draco?" Hermione's voice piped up.

I turned towards her, my hip burning with pain and my face scrunched up in agony.

"Draco, please get me down?" she pleaded.

I searched for my wand and found it within arms length on the floor. I reached for it and waved my wand and Hermione fell from the wall and landed hard on the floor. She lay as a heap on the floor and didn't move. I crawled painfully over to her.

"Hermione, I'm sorry," I whispered.

I tilted her head up, so I could see her face, I saw tears and they fell from her eyes on to my hand.

"Don't cry," I whispered.

I then lay down next to her, on the side that wasn't damaged and looked up at her face. She closed her eyes and a few tears rolled down her face.

"Thank you. Promise me one thing, Draco?" I heard her faintly whisper.

"What?" I whispered back.

"Don't fall in love with me."

"I won't."

I smiled knowing it was a joke, then I closed my eyes too and there I fell asleep.

"...Aidez-moi! Mama! Aidez-moi! Papa!"

I stirred in my sleep, wondering if that voice was from my dream? No, it wasn't from my dream, it was – Hermione! I half-opened my eyes and sunlight streamed in from the window on the sidewall, outside the dungeon's barred door. I turned my head towards where Hermione had fallen asleep last night. She was tossing and turning, I slowly got up and I bent down, shaking Hermione.

"Hermione, Hermione, wake up!"

"Aidez-moi!"

"HERMIONE!" I said loudly. "It's me, Draco!"

She stopped moving then and turned towards my voice and slowly opened her eyes.

"Draco?" she whispered.

"Draco," I assured her.

Her arm reached out and clung to the bottom of my Christmas Ball robe. I was still dressed in it, as was Hermione in hers from yesterday, I presumed.

Hermione then suddenly let go of my robe and shot up in to a sitting position. I leaned over her more closely.

"Are you all right?" I asked her, for she didn't seem it.

"Does your hip hurt?" she asked me.

"Like hell," I replied.

"Pass me your wand."

I handed it to her from my robe pocket.

"Turn your hip to face me," she commanded. I did as she said.

"Aidian healius!" Hermione said, pointing my wand to my hip.

My bone miraculously healed. The skin that was torn was replaced by new flesh and the pain vanished.

"Thank you!" I said to her.

I then took my wand from Hermione and I pointed it to her body. "Aidian healius!" I said.

Hermione closed her eyes and I presumed her flesh was healing, for she had covered herself up now as a smile crept on to her lips.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered.

I put my wand back into my pocket.

"Did you have a bad dream?" I asked her, and then, "You were saying, 'help me' in French!"

"I never knew you understood French!"

"I never knew you spoke it!"

"I should say the same to you!"

I laughed then, the first real, true laugh in a long while.

"How do you know I can speak it?" I asked Hermione.

"Well...I presume you can, if you can understand it."

"Not necessarily!"

"Well...I can speak and understand French..." Hermione began. "I was taught to speak it fluently because my mother is half-French!" she explained. "And you? Do you speak French?" Hermione asked after an afterthought.

"Yes, I can speak French fluently. I was taught as well because my father wanted me too for certain reasons, such as there are many important wizarding members who speak the French language," I explained to Hermione.

"I can also speak fluent Cantonese, as I was born in Hong-Kong. My parents met each other there. I also have a home there in Sha-tin in the New Territories!" she then told me.

"Interesting. Delighted to know. Fluent in three languages then, very good!"

"Thank you for the praise, Master Draco!" Hermione laughed.

I looked at her then. She seemed really happy, even if we were locked up in a prison cell, inside my own home. I stared at her and then she realized I was looking at her. She then moved closer to me, and then closer again, until her face was five inches away from mine. I looked at her eyes, which were the exact color of milk chocolate. She looked back into my eyes and I suddenly felt like I was swimming in her liquid brown eyes. I leaned my head an inch closer, and she did the same, until our faces were an inch apart. I then had a sudden urge to kiss her, right there. I brushed my lips gently across hers and then – BANG! We jumped apart! Standing at the dungeon door was my father!

"Where is mother?" I demanded quickly.

"Don't you dare command me, son!" my father bellowed.

I glared at him.

"I have decided on a way you two can dearly pay as your punishment!" he roared.

"WE DO NOT DESERVE ANY, but tell me why Hermione and I are here in the first place?"

"Hermione?" my father spat, "She is a dirty, filthy MUDBLOOD!"

"NO!"

"Do you love her, son?" he sneered. "Have you fallen for the Mudblood?"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed. "Tell us WHY we are here!"

"Don't avoid answering, Draco! And, is it "us" now?"

"WHY?" I said with rage.

"The Mudblood because she is a Mudblood. And you because you dared take a Mudblood to a courting event. Do you realize how close contact you have in dancing?" my father yelled, "If it had been Voldemort's plan, if Voldemort had asked you to seduce the Mudblood for a reason, then I would have accepted it!"

"She is NOT a Mudblood!" I screeched.

"You love her, you love her, son, don't you?" he said nastily and his eyes gleamed.

I glanced at Hermione; she was watching the scene with frightened eyes.

"Don't answer me, son," my father smiled with glee. "You two are going to be thrown into the muggle-world with nothing, NOTHING, I say!"

He pointed his wand at both me and Hermione and then a flash of purple light, lit up the whole of the dungeon and then I was falling, falling...

I fell hard against a concrete floor, and I saw Hermione lying a meter away sprawled on the floor. I crawled over to her.

"Hermione, are you all right?"

"No, Draco, no," she whispered.

Then her body stiffened and relaxed and she didn't move. Nor did she react to anything. I was scared, very scared. Was Hermione still alive? I started to panic then. I swept Hermione up into my arms and then I ran, shouting.

"Help!" I screamed, "HELP!"

I ran all over the place like a maniac, screaming and shouting and then I tripped. Hermione flew from my arms and landed far away. And it was then I heard the sound of rushing wheels, before I hit my head hard against the concrete ground and blacked out...