Disclaimer : I own everything you don't recognize, and nothing you do recognize.
Chapter Five – Encounter in the dungeons
Hermione tried to scream, but nothing came out. She thought about wiggling free, but perhaps that would only anger her captor more. "Come with me" A voice hissed in her ear, cold and piercing like a sharp blade. Hermione obeyed. After all, she couldn't escape into darkness. A thought came to Hermione. Duh! That's why you're a witch, Hermione. Use your wand! But her plan quickly failed – her wand was packed away in her trunk.
She followed her captor down what seemed like a corridor. Then, her captor opened a door, and pulled her inside. Everything was dark. I haven't seen daylight, or even light come to think of it, for a good 10 minutes now Hermione thought to herself. The lights suddenly flicked back on, and Hermione spun around to look at her captor.
It was Narcissa Malfoy.
"Narcissa?!" Hermione said, disbelievingly. "Hermione, let me talk. There is much explaining to do, and our time down here is limited." Narcissa said firmly, motioning Hermione to sit down. Hermione studied Narcissa's face. She didn't look as if she was going to attack her, Narcissa simply looked weary. Questions flew through Hermione's mind. Is she going to attack me? Is she under the Imperius again? And if she isn't going to attack me, then why the secrecy? Why did she have to flick the lights off, and drag me here? And why did she use such a icy evil tone with me? I thought she had changed..
Hermione next looked around the room. They were situated in an almost circular room, with cream-colored walls. There was a white leather couch facing the fire, and on opposite sides of the room, a bar and barstools. Following Hermione's gaze, Narcissa spoke up. "This is the bar room. Lucius used it to hold death eater meetings. It's an un plottable room, and no one, even if they had their ears pressed to the door, can hear us. I brought you here, because I need your help." Narcissa said softly.
If possible, even more thoughts zoomed through her mind. Narcissa? Need my help? For what? Dark arts? No, I think Narcissa is different now. "As you probably know, Lucius is in Azkaban. But he shouldn't." Narcissa paused, studying Hermione's face. Hermione looked at Narcissa disbelievingly. "He worked with VOLDEMORT! He killed muggles, and even wizards. How can you possibly say that he shouldn't be in Azkaban?!" Hermione shouted, outraged. Narcissa looked slightly shaken.
"Hermione, calm down. I hate the Dark Lord and death eaters just as much as you do. But there is more to Lucius than what meets the eye." Narcissa said. Hermione got the feeling that Narcissa knew a lot more. Narcissa looked down at her watch. "Oh no! We've been gone for about 15 minutes now. I didn't plan on making it this long. Anna-Marie was flipping through some wizarding books when I came down here. We have to go back upstairs. I'm sure Draco is looking for you." Narcissa said quickly
"Just remember Hermione—You haven't heard the whole story yet. Please don't repeat anything I told you, or anything I will tell you in the future. Especially to Draco, or another wizard. We'll have to meet again, and I'll explain the rest." Narcissa added, almost pleadingly. Hermione nodded. "Why did you have to sneak up on me? And by the way you talked to me, I thought you were Lucius or someone.." Hermione trailed off, seeing Narcissa shudder at the thought of sounding like Lucius. His voice was icy and cold. Narcissa didn't want to be like him. "I'm so sorry Hermione. Its just that this house is full of un-detectable dark magic, and this is the only safe room to talk in. Like I said, I will explain later. Now, lets go upstairs. If anyone asks where you were, say you were in my study and I was showing you a good book to read" Narcissa said, winking at Hermione.
Hermione smiled, but inwardly, she felt uneasy. Narcissa obviously had something big to tell Hermione about Lucius. But what is it? And why did she choose me, of all people, to tell? After all, what could a student do to help a powerful wizard? Or am I even going to help him?
Hermione followed Narcissa up long flights of stairs, to finally reach the main floor, right by the main entrance. Hermione looked to her left, and saw the living room. The very same living room she and Draco had passed on their tour. Only now, it didn't look so sinister. A warm fire was lit, and Anna-Marie Granger was sitting comfortably on the black leather couch, surrounded by books. "Why don't you go ahead and find Draco, Hermione?" Narcissa said, smiling. Hermione nodded, and watched Narcissa join her friend on the couch, discussing some tropical wizarding place.
I wonder what Draco's been up to.. Hermione thought as she made her way to the kitchen. A house popped out through the doorway of the kitchen. "Hello miss! Can I be getting you anything?" the house elf squeeked. Hermione smiled. "No, nothing. But thank you. Do you know where I could find Draco?" Hermione asked, noticing Draco wasn't in the kitchen. The house elf looked slightly ashamed. "Master Draco is in his bedroom, miss" The house elf said quietly, hanging his head. Hermione figured, by the way the house elf reacted to her question, that Draco was probably drunk.
It took her nearly 15 minutes to find Draco's bedroom again. The manor was so large, it made getting lost so easy. She finially recognized the corridor, passing the Library, Lucius's study, the master bedroom, the guest room, and finally, she arrived at his doorway. The door was open, so she peeked inside. On the dark satin sheets, sprawled out on one side of the bed, lay a sleeping Draco. His white-blonde hair was tousled elegantly, framing his face. He was shirtless, exposing his rock hard quidditch body and muscles. He was wearing dark satin boxers, that ironically, matched the beddings. Hermione stood in the doorway, dreamily staring at him. She soon snapped out of her "trance", with a very Malfoy-like idea. And if he was indeed drunk, it would make it all the more entertaining.
Author's Note: Mmm, shirtless Draco. Well, there are still a lot of un-answered questions for Hermione. Especially with that whole dungeons incident. Speaking of which, was it who you'd expect? I'll be honest here. I originally planned it to be Draco, who would be drunk. But I have better plans for the story this way. (If Draco was the one who "kidnapped" her, then how could he end up drunk & asleep on his bed?) I think the way I wrote it allows more mysteries to unveil. Just in case you're wondering, I'm writing this story so that it technically "re-writes" JK Rowling's 5th book.
To all of you who reviewed .. I wub you guys! Getting reviews, especially positive ones, motivate me beyond belief. Keep them coming :)
Alenor - You're absolutely welcome! :) Hehe, suspense is what makes stories so interesting, yet, its so "painful". You were kinda right about it being Draco. Like I said in my author's note, it was originally going to be Draco. But that was too cliché, and this way, it works out much better than I had hoped for. Plus, I (hopefully) fooled you all into thinking that it was going to be another someone-evil-attacks-someone-good scenario :P
CozzaGirl - Hehe me too, I love Draco's sly comments. Its one of the reasons why Draco's character is so appealing :)
PrillyGirl - I'm really glad you like it. :) At first, I wasn't sure if you guys would accept the possibility of Narcissa being different from Lucius. I'm happy you haven't read it anywhere else. I really want this story to be different then all of the other hr/d fics.
Coconut Ice - I know, cliffhangers are so evil! :P Its good to know my writing is improving :) Thank you so much for reviewing on what I needed to work on, too. That helps a lot! (It was the review you submitted for chap. 2)
Gothic-Slytherin Lioness - I will, I will. Never fear! Hehe
BlackRoseBunny451 - Thanks! I'm glad to hear you like it :)
BlackDragonOfDeath13 - Thank you, Thank you :)
Kaji Enzeru - Thanks. I most definately will. I have big plans for this fanfic. After all, the world (the imaginary world of JK Rowling, that is) doesn't revolve around Hermione or Draco. But they will always be two of the main characters.
Duckie9 - Thank you :) Suspense is what makes it interesting, right? Thats one of the things I was aiming for :)
And finially, a big thank you to all of you who continue to read this story. Especially those who continue to review! (Coconut Ice, Alenor, BlackRoseBunny451, CozzaGirl16)