Chapter 4: A Single Teardrop
A FEW HOURS LATER
Hermione felt like she was soaking in the swimming-pool sized bathtub for what felt like hours,and by the way her fingers were wrinkly she figured she was probably correct. Mofty, the house-elf that arrived shortly after Draco left earlier in the evening, was standing idly by. She was shifting slightly every few minutes, but didnt dare move more than that. She had a towel in her hand and was staring around the room, very anxious. This disturbed Hermione slightly. She didnt like the idea of Mofty always jumping up excitedly when Hermione needed something, like the shampoo bottle that she couldnt reach. But she knew why Mofty was there. She sighed, and made Mofty jump up suddenly."Missus needs somethin?" Mofty questioned with a slight enthusiastic tone in her voice. "No, thank you anyways...You know you could leave if you want" Hermione tried to hide the hope in her voice as she said this. ' Maybe with her gone I could plan an escape.' But it was to no avail, no matter how hard she tried."Oooh no, missus, Master would give Mofty a sore beating if Mofty leave. No, Mofty must stay with missus." Hermione sighed again, and slipped under the water knowing that no matter how much she tried persuading the elf, she would not dare budge. Under the water, Hermione felt calm and relaxed. With her eyes closed, she ran her fingers through her hair, and with glee noticed that all the muck that was embedded inside her golden curls, was completely gone. Suddenly, she felt another pair of fingers in her hair, and with a huge yank, Hermione felt her entire body being lifted from underwater, and pain was now circulating all over head.
Hermione, whose hands were still clutching her hair, slowly opened her eyes and noticed the towel that Mofty was holding just seconds before was laying forgotten on the floor. Mofty was by the bathroom door, her hands over eyes, and Hermione could hear her muttering something along the lines of,"Master mad at Mofty, Mofty bad,bad,bad...Mofty deserves whatever Master does, Mofty bad,bad,bad." Hermione,let go of her head and moved her fingers across the cold fingers that were still clenched onto her hair. As soon as the figure felt Hermiones fingers meet their owns, the person let go with a very sudden jerk that made Hermione whirl around. She met into the cold-grey eyes of.."Lucious." Hermione said nervously.But Lucious Malfoy wasnt looking into Hermiones eyes. The shock from Lucious standing in front of her,made her forget that she was completely nude, and Lucious was getting a full eyeful of her body. Hermione covered her indecentcies, with her arms and hands and dipped her body so far into the water, that only her mouth and above were visible.Her face turned a nasty shade of red.
Lucious Malfoy smirked and his trademark Malfoy features were glistening in the golden light of the bathroom.He was no longer in his death eater wardrobe, but in another pair of black robes with brilliant green embroidery.Lucious gave a Hermione a grin that made Hermione sick to her stomach. Finally, he spoke with pure uncensored venom dripping from every word."What a beautiful body. Perfect curves, shaped as if carved by the hand of Merlin himself. Shame it twas wasted on such a feculent creature, as you Mudblood."Hermione blushed, if it was possible, an ever deeper shade of red. Her head looked like a bobbing tomato on the water.
"Pervert."was all that Hermione could muster to say. She wanted to say more. Call him a thousand insults and more, but she held her tongue. She felt strange around Lucious. She didnt know why she let him intimidate her,especially now, since she never was scared of him when knowing him when she was just starting out in Hogwarts.
Malfoy sneered heavily and strode over to the door,stopped at Mofty and picked her up off the floor by the ruff of her potato sack, she was wearing. "Why was she in here so long? Surely she must have finished by now." He was speaking in a very commanding tone. Mofty looked like she was going to melt. Hermione, gathering up as much courage as she could muster, walked out of the tub and quickly pulled a towel over her body as Luciouss head swiveled spuriously in her direction. Hermione walked over to them and looked Lucious straight in the eyes. "Leave her alone! It was my descision to stay in here for all these hours. If you must pick on someone, at least pick on someone who can at least fight back." Lucious let go of Mofty at once.Hermione knew she had touched a nerve. Almost at once, Hermiones collarbone was seized by Luciouss hand and she was thrown backward out of the bathroom door, with such force, that her body didnt stop until it had hit the right side of her bed. She fell to the floor, one hand over the now obviously bruised collarbone, and the other clutching her towel, determined not to let it slip and let Lucious see her bare again.
Lucious strode very angrily at her. He was almost snarling as he pulled Hermione to a standing position. "Listen to me Mudblood, youre lucky that my master has his uses for you, or else you would have been dead a long time ago." Hermione burst into new tears abruptly. "SO, DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CARE? DONT YOU UNDERSTAND? I WANT TO DIE! I HAVE NO ONE ELSE IN THIS LIFE, YOU AND YOUR SON MADE SURE OF THAT. I HATE YOU,I HATE MALFOY AND I HATE YOUR MASTER."Hermione bursted out so much fiery fury that was being held up inside of her. Lucious,not moving an inch as Hermione was speaking or rather shouting at him, simply said,"Mofty, clothe this young lady, feed her the dinner that was prepared and make sure she goes to bed." He let go of her arm, and strode over to the door.As he reached the threshold, he turned around and added as an afterthought,"I know that you think that you will find a way out of having this baby, but I can assure you that this baby will be born. He will take the reign after the Dark Lords demise and he will be the new leader, of the Death Eaters. I also know that you are highly suicidal right now, so I must advise you, if you do anything to harm yourself, or the baby, or shall I say any of the Malfoy family youre remaining friends at the Order will suffer dearly." Hermione whimpered slightly. Its true that she was thinking about harming herself, if their was no possibility of escape, but she had forgotten one important thing that made her fears slightly lessen. But before he left, he smiled nastily and made her skin crawl with goosebumps."I must say Mudblood that Draco,despite the present circumstances,has chosen a very good candidate to be the mudblood vessel.Im sure hell have alot of fun with you." He laughed evilly and locked the door shut.
Hermione was slightly shaken by Luciouss words as Mofty strode weakly to her and helped Hermione dress into the clothes that were laid out on her bed that she didnt notice. It was a simple,non-decorative silk purple nightdress that went as far as her ankles. The nightrobe that went with it, was also purple, but it was made out of a very smooth cotton. Hermione was thankful that it was also ankle-length and that it had a belt to tie around her nightdress,because she realized her nightgown was very sheer. Mofty watched silently,as Hermione ate her now cold soup,which still tasted as good as it looked. She drank deeply into her goblet of pumpkin juice. She never felt anything so rich in her entire life.This entire week without food, made her suddenly realize how hungry she really was. After her meal, she was lead to her bed. Even though her head didnt want to be lead off its guard by falling asleep, her body ached and her eyes were very droopy. As Mofty was pulling the covers over her, Hermione had a sudded suspicion that they put something like a sleeping potion into the food, because she was so suddenly sleepy, when just moments before she was wide awake. She fought with herself to stay awake, but she couldnt take it anymore.
As her eyelids were about to fall, she saw Mofty busily tending to the fire, and fixing disheleved items all over the room. Hermione fought back tears, and comforted herself with the new hope that was now in her head, that ironically Lucious had given her. The Order was still around. Ginny, Fred, and Dumbledore and all the others were still out there. She was comforted in the idea of them, at this very moment thinking of a way to get her back. The last image she saw was of Mofty clearing away the dinner dishes...
A FEW HOURS LATER:EARLY IN THE MORNING
"Hermione,listen to me,its going to be alright,everything is gonna be alright,I promise." Hermione felt very warm in her lovers embrace. She didnt know where she was. It was very foggy,but warm.She was very happy.He let go of her and his shocking blue eyes met her chocolate ones. She leaned forward to kiss him,but he held her back with a serious look on his face."Hermione,you must listen to me I love you,but I know that we were never meant to be." Hermione stared back in confusion,as he pressed forward." I can see things from up here that no human can understand. I know the future. I know your future,and even if it pains me to say this,youre spirit was meant to be with another. Your kisses were meant for another. Your love was destined for another." Hermione let go of him, and protested with a stubborn voice."No..No..How can this be? No, youre lying! I dont love anyone else but you. Cant you see that? Im unhappy! I want to stay in your arms forever! I want to be with you,forever. If not in this life,then in death. Ill kill myself to be with you!" He grabbed her hands as she said this last statement."Youre only saying this because you dont know your destiny. Your future is here,amongst the living. You will play such an important part in the defeat of Voldemort. You cant destroy youre life. All things arent as they seem. Remember that." He let go of her, and he seemed to be evaporating into thin air."Wait..No..Ron..Ron..RON...I want to go with you..dont leave me..."
"Ron...Ron..dont leave me,please dont leave." She was reaching her hand into the air. She no longer felt warm,but extremely cold.Her hand grabbed into the darkness,until she felt a cold bony cheek,that did not feel like her fiances. She immediatlety opened her eyes,and gasped. Her hand was touching the face of Draco Malfoy. She immediatley let go of his cheek,and her cheeks blushed red with embarrassment.She expected him to say something mean or to at least laugh at her for calling out for her dead fiancee. But he surprised her yet again, and he simply just looked at her. He was very close to her face. Hermione was leaning back on the pillows. He was bent over, and apparently examining her face.Finally,Hermione got irritated and she said rather more loudly than she wouldve have liked,"Do you want something?" Draco simply shrugged and he stood up. He reached into his robes and Hermione thought for a second, that he was reaching for his wand, but she was shocked to see that he was holding a slim clear vial, with purple goo inside.
He tossed the vial at her, and she caught it,rather automatically, with both hands. She examined it. "What exactly is this?" She asked, adopting a curious innocent voice, that replaced her previous harsh one. He walked to the left side of the bed and sat on top of it. Hermione noticed that he looked tired, and that his hair was slightly disheveled. His pale features were illuminated in the moonlight, and she noticed that even though Draco had many similarities of Lucious. He had his fathers hair,and trademark smirk. And who could forget the infamous silvery-gray eyes that only a Malfoy would possess. But his features seemed a bit more relaxed than his fathers. His bone structure was softer and even though he had the same color hair as his father, Draco wore it with bangs cascading down upon his eyes, while his fathers was streaked back into a ponytail.He had a rather cute baby face that his father most definetley did not have. Hermione didnt want to admit it but he was rather handsome. Hermione didnt know it but Draco was examining her as she was him. He noticed her soft golden curls that were once extremely frizzy once upon a time. But that was no longer a case. Her body was was perfectly developed and her eyes had remained just as beautiful as the rest of her body. Draco had to admit to himself, that she was beautiful and that she was no longer the little stuck up mudblood that he knew so well back in his younger years at Hogwarts,and he was very happy about his descision even if he would never tell her that.
Draco suddenly realized that Hermione was waiting for an answer. He stopped his gazing most quickly to answer. Hermione stopped staring as well." Its an ointment..for scars and bruises." He grabbed the vile from her and popped the cork. Hermione knew why he had brought it. He must have receiven word of what his father did to her earlier that night. She couldnt help but feel gratitude towards him,but she also couldnt help but feel suspicious and curious. Why would Malfoy want to help her? Maybe he wanted to get on her good side so this whole arrangement would work? "Why did you bring it?" she asked innocently. He looked at her through squinted eyes,then sighed."Because, maybe my father was a little too...much earlier." He handed the vial to her. "Too much?" she said rather sarcastically,as she snatched the vial from him. He stared at her quizically as she sniffed the substance. She slowly slipped the right side of her nightrobe off. She looked at Draco a little apprehensive, then pulled her right shoulder string of her nightdress off, careful not to expose anything farther than the bare shoulder and the end of her neckline. She poured some of the ointment in her hand and tried to reach the bruise, but to her disappointment it was on the back of her collarbone where her back was and it apparently was huge cause it stretched as far down, where before you reached the beginning of her bottom.She could hardly believe it. How come she couldnt feel it while she slept, and she realized she was sleeping on her side. She sighed. She turned back around and found Draco looking at her,his head cocked to the side and his eyes squinting. He was smirking at her. "Need some help?" He asked rather sarcastically.
Hermione stared at him disbelieving. Her anger was rising. Partly because she couldnt reach all of her bruise, partly because now she had no choice but accept the help he was offering. She swallowed her pride and nodded very weakly. She turned her body around and he positioned himself on the bed so he was directly behind her. She passed him the bottle of ointment. But he didnt take it. Instead he put her hands down and he slowly and delicately pulled her left nightrobe and nightdress sleeves off,reveling her bare shoulders and bare back. "What the hell do you think youre doing?" Hermione said crossly. If he thinks he was getting that, no way in hell was she gonna let him. But Draco simply stated as if explaining to a small child that one-plus-one equals two,"I have to have half of your nightrobes off,if Im going to reach the entire bruise, dont I?" She shivered slightly at the thought of Draco touching her body,even if only to help her. She nodded again weakly, and pulled the rest of her robes up to her chest as high as possible. Draco took the bottle from her. Before he began, he pulled her curls away revealing her entire bare back and neck.
He worked expertly,reaching every inch of her bruised back. Hermione closed her eyes, as she felt the stinging feeling of the ointment touching her bruise.Draco thought he had hurt her accidently and he said, in a concerned voice that Hermione had never heard him use,"Im sorry, did I rub to hard?". Hermione opened her eyes and said in almost a whisper,"No..youre doing fine..youre doing great." She wasnt lying. His fingers werent cold, but warm. He massaged the ointment into her back smoothly. He was brilliant,careful and considerant. He didnt touch her hard enough to hurt her, and he didnt do it lazily either. After all was finished, he wiped his hands on a washcloth he had in his robes and placed both the empty ointment bottle and now dirty cloth back inside one of his robes pockets. He slowly pulled her nightgown back on. He helped her lay back gently into the pillows,so she wouldnt hurt too terribly.
As he helped her pull the covers over her, Hermione looked over at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it read, 3:15 am. Her eyes suddenly felt like going back to sleep. She turned her head around just in time to see Draco striding over to the door. "Thank you.." she said very softly, not sure if he had heard her or not. Draco stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. His face looked cross, and his eyes full of an icy cold that looked almost penetrating. "Lets get this straight Mudblood,I only did this so you wouldnt be sore for tomorrow night." He sneered evilly at her. Hermione pulled herself up, and looked directly at him, in a way that even startled him. "What, pray tell, will happen tomorrow night?" her voice wasnt scared at all. It was more in a sarcastic curious way. He dropped his sneer and shifted his eyes away from her, determined not to look her in the eyes. Even if he wasnt looking at her he still had a very commanding tone in his voice that horribly reminded Hermione of his fathers voice when he was reprimanding Mofty."Our wedding night." and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.
THE AFTERNOON OF THAT SAME DAY
Hermione was sitting in the drawing room of one of Narcissa Malfoys many rooms in the house. Narcissa had soft sapphire eyes and dirty-blonde hair that was situated on top of her head in a very fashionable bun. As soon as Hermione saw Narcissa, she realized at once where Draco had gotten his soft baby-faced bone structure from. Narcissa was a very elegant woman,who wore very expensive robes. Today she was wearing off the shoulder,bright green robes. Around her neck was a huge emerald on a gold chain, that Hermione knew must have been the most expensive thing she had ever seen in her life. Hermione was also shocked to find that Narcissa looked a lot younger than Lucious, and that she didnt have a harsh voice as he did. She was rather soft-spoken,but with,of course a very commanding tone in her voice. Narcissa had woken Hermione up at 8:00 that morning and had picked out from what she would wear that day, to what she was going to eat for breakfast and lunch, which she both ate with Narcissa in her drawing room.The reason was obvious why Narcissa was with Hermione so far all day. One to watch over her, and two to discuss the wedding that would be taking place tomorrow afternoon. At first, Hermione thought it was rather short notice for all of the preparations to take place, but she was soon informed that while she was passed out for that week before, the wedding was already being planned and all the orders were already placed.
"That should wrap it all up,Mofty please lead Miss Granger to her bedroom, and later on bring her dinner." Narcissa stood up along with Hermione as Mofty lead her out of the room. As Hermione walked out the door,she heard Narcissa say to her,"Tomorrow I will come to your bedroom 4 hours before the ceremony." With that the door was shut softly with a click. Mofty now lead a very depressed Hermione down the corrider of portraits of previous Malfoys all whispering at the sight of her.They reached her bedroom door, and Hermione was pushed inside gently, and the door was magicked shut. She strode to her bed, and lay on top of her bed. She hated this place. She didnt care if they were nice to her or not. She felt like she was screaming inside. Everytime she thought of the wedding,especially the wedding night she felt very sick. 'How could this be happeneing to me?' she would think to herself.She almost wished that her and Ron would have given into their hormonal urges,then she wouldnt have been chosen.'Ron...'. Everytime she thought about him she would just break down. Especially after the dream she had last night,she felt like dying. She didnt undertand her dream. No matter how hard she tried, Rons words made no sense to her. Did he no longer love her? ' No' she thought to herslelf. ' He died loving me, and even in the dream he said he loved me. But he said my heart would belong to someone else.'
Hermione remebered the wedding that would be taking place tomorrow. ' The wedding that Ron and I should be in, not me and Malfoy' and at this thought tears just rolled down her cheeks uncontrolably. She didnt even stop crying when the elf came in later that night with her dinner. Even if the foods aroma was entrancing, she didnt touch it. She was angry at everything. She wanted everything to end. She wanted the world to stop. She pulled her legs close to her chest, and her head down into them.
She cried silently to herself,trying to forget the horrible feeling that tomorrow night at that same exact time, what Malfoy would be doing to her. She gulped inside her chest. She cried endlessly, oblivious to the fact that her door was slightly open, and that a pair of silver-grey eyes were looking at her this entire time.
SUNDAY,DAY OF THE WEDDING
Hermione lay in her bed for the most of the time. She didnt look at Mofty as she came in to place her breakfast on the table next to her couch by the fireside. She also didnt eat any of it. She just stared,she looked like a crazy person. She never spoke, and the only movement she would make is when she would turn her head around to stare at the elves who had just walked in, to clean, even though there was hardly anything to clean, seeing as Hermione didnt touch anything in her room. The elves got very angry though when Hermione refused to get out of bed so they could make her bed. But she didnt care, she didnt care about anything anymore.
By the beginning of the afternoon, as Mofty came in with low-spirits due to Hermiones lack of cooperation earlier that day,with her lunch, Hermione started to get slightly hopeful. 'Maybe they forgot.' But she was too smart to even think that idea twice. Sure enough true to her word, at exactly 4 hours before the ceremony Narcissa strode in with a packful of female house-elves which were all holding boxes. Hermione sighed deeply as she got out of bed for the first time. "Lets get this over with." she said rather depressingly.
2 Hours later she was bathed, and her hair was pulled back by a intricate headband, and her curls were all now cascading down her back. She was wearing matching white panties and bra.Over it was a waist-length white silk tube-top nightdress. Her stomach churned ferosiously as she thought of standing in front of Malfoy wearing nothing but this. The wedding dress that was now over her undergarments was simply breathtaking, and Hermione was shocked that Narcissa had put this much effort into this forced marriage. It was tube-top dress, with fluted sleeves, that ended at her elbows. From the bottom of her waist and down, the dress was in a bell-shape, and the train was very long and heavy. Even though her dress was very simple and white, she knew that it was absolutely beautiful and very expensive. When Narcissa finished applying a light touch of make-up and her teardrop earrings, it suddenly hit Hermione very hard. 'Im marrying my enemy. Im marrying Draco Malfoy.' Tears were now welling inside of her, as Narcissa lead her to the full-body mirror. Hermione looked absolutley gorgeous. Every inch of her dripped in wealth. From the diamond necklace hanging loosley around her neck, to her high-heels. She always knew that marrying Ron ,she would never be able to afford a wedding dress like this, nor any of the accessories. She sighed, hiding her tears from Narcissa who was now looking at her appraisingly. ' If only I was marrying Ron.I wouldnt care what I looked like or how poor Id be, as long as I was with him' was all that she could think about as Narcissa lead her out of the room, the elves carrying her long train behind her.
It would be a 2-person witness ceremony. Lucious and Narcissa Malfoy obviously being the two witnesses. As Narcissa lead Hermione to a back room adjacent to the room where the ceremony would take place, Hermione couldnt help but admire Narcissas fine but quite expensive taste in anything she did. The small room was decorated in lillies, and white roses. A crystal chandelier loomed overhead, and the floor leading up to the priest,was decored in pink,white and red rose petals."My husband will be leading you down to the altar." Narcissa said in a rather much hurried voice, as she fit the tiara with the veil on it. She fixed the veil over her face. Hermione noticed that Narcissa was on the verge of tears and quite suddenly she took hold of Hermione in a strong hug, saying all the while" I know all the details about this wedding,but I just cant help it." She quickly pulled away from Hermione and wiped her eyes as there was a hard knock on the door.
Narcissa opened the door, and Lucious walked in dressed in his traditional black robes, but this time with a silver vest and white shirt and black trousers on, under them. Narcissa smiled at Hermione briefly before kissing her husband softly on the cheek."Good Luck." she said as she closed the door. Hermione was now all alone with Lucious Malfoy. She stood her ground as Lucious circled around her looking at her. She felt his gaze many times,but she was determined to continue staring into a small part of the wall, straight ahead of her. "Very nice, I must give praise where praise is due. I myself would have never spent that much time and money on you, but you cant have everything you want in life." He stopped right in front of her. Her eyes were looking past him and he was annoyed by this. He grabbed her chin,forcing her to look at him directly into his eyes. "You will say these vows, and you will go through with this ceremony, do you understand? Im not asking you, Im commanding you." She looked into his piercing stare. She wasnt scared. "And if I dont comply with your um demands?" she asked disrespectfully,hate clearly resounding in her voice.
Lucious simply smiled at her and said,"Then your beloved friends at the Order will die.And dont think that we dont know where your other headquarters is located, and if you dont want the rest of that Weasley scum dead, and all the others dead,than you sure as hell better comply you Mudblood Bitch!" His cold eyes were glinting, and he said all of this in barely more than a whisper. He knew that Hermione had no choice, and as he let go of her, and forcefully taking her arm in his that Hermione would do everything that came with the wedding.Everything. But as they reached the door, Hermione said very softly,but every words meaning clearly said truthfully, as if in oath,"I swear that before I die, I will kill you." Lucious just looked at her and she looked back,theyre eyes aching to blink,but didnt dare to. Finally, he chuckled lightly,dropped his gaze and said as he lead her to the next room,"You can try."
Hermione recited the vows the priest gave her without any second thought. The entire ceremony seemed like a blur to her. The words the priest was saying seemed to be fading. She never looked at Draco in the eyes, who was dressed almost exactly as his father except that for him,the silver vest was replaced by a black one. In a matte rof minutes, the ceremony was over and Draco lifted her veil and kissed her in a quick fashion on the lips that Hermione didnt respond to. He lead her out of the chamber. Draco observed his new wife. Her face was blank. There was not even a trace of a tear. Her entire face was blank like a canvas that wasnt painted on yet. He lead her into his room.
Hermione saw that his room was very different from hers. His bed was on the left side of the door. His fireplace was in front of them, and his bathroom was on the opposite side of the room than hers. It was in the same decor as hers though. There was a small table in front of his bed,with a dinner placed on top of it. Ready to serve them was a male house-elf that Hermione never saw before. Draco lead her to the table and helped her sit down. The house-elf introduced himself as Boxey and then asked what type of drink they shall be having that evening. Draco said he would take regular champagne,but Hermione suddenly said,"I shall have pink champagne." Draco furrowed is eyes at her. She simply stared back. She hoped that they wouldnt have it,since it was not that common, but nevertheless the elf disapparated then apparated with a bottle of regular champagne and a bottle of pink champagne.
The entire dinner she never spoke. Only ate very slowly,dreading as to what was going to happen next. Then as if everything was on fast forward, the dinner was over,dishes cleared as well as the table and chairs. Draco and Hermione stared at each other. Both clearly nervous and both clearly unsure. Then,in a flight of rage Hermione threw her veil off, and walked over to Draco."Well?" she spat at him."Im sure due to your high reputation at school,youve done this before. Get it over with." She was standing right in front of him. He looked at her,and surveyed her,his eyes taking in every section of her face. "If you insist." He pushed her slowly to the bed and thrust her with such force that Hermione suddenly was very scared. He didnt get on the bed with her. He quickly glanced over to the bathroom door,with shifty eyes. The door opened very slightly on its own accord. Hermione looked at the bathroom door stunned. Draco walked over to the door, and instead of closing it he went inside and he said before closing it,"One moment. Dont dare move. Im sure I dont need to tell you, that all the windows and the door is locked." Then he closed the door.
Hermione rolled over on the bed.Suddenly,all of the things her and Ron ever did together was racing through her head. The time he nervously asked her out on a date for the first time, their first kiss under the starry night sky. The way he held her. The basket of roses he sent her on her birthday.The night he proposed... Even all their arguments,raced through her mind. Before she could make herself suffer more by thinking about the past,she heard the bathroom door creak open. As she turned around to face Draco,a single teardrop rolled down her cheek...