The Price of Freedom

"I can see you clearly

Vividly emblazoned in my mind

And yet you're so far

Like a distant star

I'm wishing on tonight"

Hermione awoke suddenly from her slumber. How long she slept, she had no clue, but her throbbing headache was still there. She thought sleeping would help make it go away, but the stone cold floor did contribute any comfort at all. She tried to get up but her legs were too weak to support her body, and instead collapsed back on the floor. She thought this whole thing was just some silly nightmare; that she would wake up in her own bed and find that nothing had really happened. But she was wrong for it was very much reality and she, unfortunately, was in the very middle of it.

Though she was feeling very weak and lightheaded, she decided to try and stand up again; she didn't want to cower in the corner of the room forever waiting and dreading what's to come. She wanted to do something about it, maybe get herself out of wherever she was. Slowly and carefully, she began walking in small steps along around the room, trying to find out whether there was any way of escape, like a door or a window. However, she would more likely find a door, since there was hardly any light in the room for there to be a window. She walked along the walls, feeling for anything out of the ordinary, and relying more heavily on her sense of touch rather than sight. She managed to walk a few metres from her spot, until she tripped over a rather large bump on the floor.

"Ouch!" she cried out as she hit the all too familiar cold floor.

This is getting nowhere, she thought as she massaged her extremely sore legs. I wonder what it was that I tripped on.

Her hands reached out, and touched the object in front of her. She was surprised to find it rather soft, and continued touching it until she could get a feeling of what it can be. But she did, and it wasn't pretty. Her hands had came across the last thing she would ever expect touching under these circumstances – someone's face.

Oh, Merlin! she thought in horror as she withdrew her hands. She didn't want to know whose face it belonged to and crawled quickly away from the body.

I wonder if they're still alive, she wondered to herself. If indeed the person was conscious, she may have a slight chance of escaping since she will not be alone. But if the person was dead, well, she'll have to find out, wouldn't she?

Curiousity got the better of her, and she found herself crawling back to where she had found the body. Although her vision was a bit poor, she was still able to make out the faint outline of the person, trying to catch any sign that might indicate that the person was undeniably alive. But nothing happened, which made her even more anxious.

"H-hello? C-can you hear me?" she whispered while slightly tapping the shoulder for any effect. However, she received no answer, and she was certain that it may be too late for her to save the unidentified person. She was more than terrified that she may have the same fate, but she was also determined to figure things out in order to survive.

She managed to get up on her feet once again, although they were threatening to fall any minute since she was still very weak. She continued trying to find some sort of door or another type of escape from this room as she was doing prior to discovering the dead body. After awhile, she came upon a hard, round object that was sticking onto the wall to which she was most certain that it was a doorknob. She tried turning it to open the door but nothing budged.

Of course it wouldn't! How could I be so stupid? Nobody would confine someone, but leave the door unlocked for them to escape, now would they? she thought to herself. All this stress and fear was consuming her which must be the reason why she just could not think at all. While she was massaging her head to help make it feel better, she thought she heard a sort of noise at the opposite side of the room. This made her jumpy, as she was the only living and breathing person inside the room, or so she thought. The thought of the body that she had discovered before passed her mind, but it couldn't be alive, could it? It was dead, she was so sure, but then again, she had lost her ability to think ever since she woke up in this place.

There it was again. She was sure she heard a groan and decided to investigate more. If she was indeed wrong – and she hoped she was – about the person being dead then that would most certainly give her a bit of hope after all. She wouldn't have to be lonely anymore, and maybe she could find out more of what's going on.

As she approached the body, her tension was high. She didn't know what to do or what to say to let her presence be known, and she was shaking from head to toe from fear.

"Hello? Are you ok?" she asked timidly, after a while of figuring out what to say.

As soon she said those words, she could hear the person gasp slightly but didn't reply back.

"I'm not here to harm you," she comforted, "in fact, I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm a victim as well."

She hoped that her words would reassure the person that she was in the same place as they were, and that she would do anything to get them out of here.

"Are you alright?" she asked while kneeling down beside the body, and taking their hand in her own. But all that came out of their mouth was a small grunt.

Perhaps they're too weak to say anything, she thought sadly to herself. But this person was alive, and she wanted to do something before it was too late.

"If you can hear me, just squeeze my hand," she instructed. A small grasp on her hand was their answer.

"Good. Do you feel any sort of pain?"

She felt their hand squeeze in reply.

But of course they were. If they weren't lying in pain, they would be able to speak with her.

"I don't know how much pain you're in right now, but I'll try to find a way out of here as soon as possible so that you can receive some medical help. Do you understand?"

Again she felt it, except this time they squeezed her hand twice as if saying "Yes, I do understand. Thank you for doing this for me, you may be saving my life."

"My name's Hermione, but I'm afraid I don't know yours." She may never know, if they continued to be in this state.

"Her... Her... S-s-s... S-s-"a voice spoke up, although a bit coarsely.

This shocked Hermione very much, since she didn't expect the person to talk at all, but nevertheless, she kept a calm demeanor. "Hush, don't speak. It seems like your throat is very dehydrated and a bit damaged. Just let me do all the talking, okay?"

A squeeze.

She smiled in satisfaction and tried to stand up, but couldn't – the person was still holding on to her hand, afraid that if they let go, they may never feel that warmth and comfort ever again.

"Don't worry, I'll be back in a minute," she reassured. She wanted to check out that door again; it was the only thing that was closing her off from the outside world, and she wanted more than anything to smash it open.

In fact, that was exactly what she did. She walked back to where the door was, and kicked it many times as hard as she could. However, she regretted that decision since the hardness of the door pained her already weakened legs.

"Oh, I shouldn't have done that," she mumbled bitterly as she rubbed her legs.

She heard a far-off grunt that indicated that the person knew the pain that she was currently in.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine; my feet just hurt a bit from kicking the door. It's nothing, really," she lied through clenched teeth.

Another grunt answered her.

"I'm coming back. Just give me a minute," she paused, "or two."

As she was limping her way back to the person, she could hear the door behind her slightly open and light pierced through the darkness of the room.

This is it! This must be our chance to escape! she thought as she turned around. I can finally... oh, no.

"What do you think you're doing?" a stern voice asked her.

It was that woman again. Hermione could not see well, but she knew that the woman had long, flowing hair, and was about the same height as she was, maybe even a tad taller.

"Well? What do you think you're doing?" the voice asked her again, more impatiently this time.

"N-nothing."

"Don't lie to me, girl. I heard you make some sort of noise. Now I ask again, exactly what do you think you're doing?"

"It was... I was..."

A small groan in the corner of the room interrupted their conversation, and made them both turn towards whatever had caused it. Of course Hermione knew where it came from; the person wanted to distract the captor from Hermione onto them.

"What was that?" the woman sternly asked.

"N-nothing. I-it was me," Hermione lied, although, she was never good at lying.

"You are pathetic. Who are you trying to protect?" the woman coldly stated as she walked past Hermione, making sure to push her out of the way.

The person grunted louder as the woman approached closer and closer, until her presence was looming over them.

"So you're awake, now aren't you? Trying to distract me from her, are you? You are so naive, think I don't know anything? You actually think you can escape out of this place without me noticing?" she asked, with a harsh laughter.

"I hardly think that-"Hermione started to say before she got cut off.

"Who cares what you think! You mean absolutely nothing to me! Hmm... it looks like some order will be needed."

"I don't think you need to be so rash about this-"

"Who told you to speak!" the woman glared dangerously, although Hermione didn't see.

"It's just-"

"SHUT UP, GIRL! You do not speak to me like that! Do I need to teach you how to be obedient!"

Before Hermione could let another word come out of her mouth, she was hit squarely on the chest by a spell so powerful enough that she flew across the room, hitting her back against the cold, hard wall.

She screamed in agonizing pain from the contact, before she slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.

----

"Y-You're not Hermione."

"Who's Hermione?"

Draco was dumbfounded. Who was this girl before him? She was certainly not the one he was expecting, but how could that be? Her features were most definitely different – this girl had straight raven-black hair, blue eyes and pale skin.

Could he have gone into the wrong room?

No, that wasn't possible. He had memorized the exact steps to this very room; after all, he had been here numerous times. There was just no way that he could've made a mistake in coming down here.

He was so sure. Now it's back to square one.

Unless his father had something to do with it. Maybe, he was getting suspicious and he switched Hermione to another room. Yes, that had to be it.

But the question now was, why would Lucius be suspicious?

Draco always had his emotions in check whenever his father was near. He would act very cold and distant towards "Hermione" so that Lucius wouldn't be suspicious. He was a very good actor, if he must say so himself. But there has to be a reason for this switch-up.

"Have you always been here?" he asked curiously, wishing afterwards that he hadn't asked such a stupid question.

"Yes."

"So you've never moved from this very spot at all?"

"No."

Odd. But then again, she may have been unconscious during the whole ordeal.

"A-are you h-here to s-save me?" the girl hesitated to say.

"What! What gave you that idea!" Draco was here to rescue Hermione, not her.

"You... you... you're here to help someone. I thought it was me," she timidly answered.

She was dearly mistaken. She thought, but she was wrong. When he came down here, he was expecting someone who was not her, but now he didn't know what to do. Did he have enough decency in his heart to save another who was in trouble, or should he just go for what he wanted and not look back?

Standing on the thin line between his morals and his corrupted ways was exasperating. It was either one or the other, not both. Which would he choose?

"You're right. I am here to help someone, but it isn't you," he clearly stated as he stood up from his spot.

She nodded sadly, and started to sob. Of course he wouldn't save her; she wasn't part of his plans. He was thinking of another. She would be stuck here for an indefinite period of time and never get to savour the sweet taste of freedom again. She would get used to it, but the thought of being alone with no more hope terrified her.

"However," he paused, "I know what you're experiencing right now, and I suppose I could help. I'm here anyways." If he couldn't reach Hermione, at least he would be able to save another, right?

"Oh, thank you!" she cried out. "I owe you my life."

"Yes, well, don't get carried away," he grumbled as he helped her to her feet.

The girl was very weak as she could barely walk, and Draco was surprised that all he could feel was skin and bones when he touched her arm. He hoped in his mind that Hermione would not be in the same state as this girl; that she was alright and could take care of herself until he would be able to find her.

They were almost a step closer to the door when the girl spoke up.

"I don't want to get you in trouble."

To hear her say those words were of a surprise to Draco. "Are you backing out of this?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"N-no, it's just that I've seen what that man can do. He's very powerful and manipulative, and I don't want you to suffer any dire consequences for me."

"I can handle it, after all, I am his son," he stated as he slowly opened the door.

The girl clung on to him for dear life as they both faced what was ahead of them, literally.

"Draco, my dear boy."

"Father."

A/N: I guess you kinda expected that, but I got you guys on the last chapter, didn't I :). I want to make the story angsty, but I don't know if I'm doing it right lol. I'm kinda having a writer's block on this story, but I'm pretty sure it's almost finished... and I hope I can surprise you at the end :)