Chapter 6:The True Meaning of Deception
She lay there shocked with surprise and confusion as the pale firm hand slid from under hers,and started to slowly rise up the front of her body. It traveled first from her stomach and made its way smoothly up to the bottom of her chest,where it stopped and remained stationary there. At this, Hermione seemed to regain some of her brain that wasnt still shocked to see a different hand caress her body. She grabbed the pale hands wrist and flung it off herself so forcefully that she stumbled within the bedcovers. She straightened herself up,and sat up on top of the bed. What she saw laying next to her made her want scream.
The covers were hiding everything waist and below. But she could still see the pale and muscular back of a 17-year old boy that was definitely not in any way resembling Rons. His face hidden by the pillow his head was drooping on,but unfortunatley for Hermione the pillow didnt hide the silvery blonde hair that the boy had,nor the bits of sweat that were lingering on the back of his neck. Hermione gasped so loudly that the boy stirred a great deal and turned over so he was facing right side up and Draco Malfoys silvery-grey eyes met newly christened Hermione Malfoys chocolate-brown ones.
Hermione just stared at him, her heart racing more than it had ever did in her life. She could feel her stomach doing flip-flops,and she could even almost hear her own loud heartbeat bursting through her chest. Even though Dracos eyes were on Hermione,his face wore a very blank expression, he didnt seem at all surprised that Hermione was gaping at him with utter disbelief and repulsion on her face as she stared,blinking a few times at him.
"What..." but she couldnt say anything after that. She felt like she had forgotten how to speak. A wave of fury overcame her though,and as her eyes narrowed,she finally found her tongue once more,and she spoke with nothing but cold,posionous venom in every word. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?". Her words echoed throughout the room. She shook a little,as her left hand was clutching the sheet up to her chest,making sure it wouldnt fall. Draco situated himself in a sitting position on her bed. He leaned back into his set of pillows,on the palms of his hands. He looked up at her and said,quite casually as if not really comprehending Hermiones anger,"Morning...what a night huh? I dont suppose you wanna have another go?" A creepy smile snaked across his mouth. She couldnt believe what her ears had just heard. ' What the hell is going on? Wheres Ron?',was all Hermione could think as Draco yawned widely.
"Wheres..R-Ron?" she murmered through gritted teeth.' What did this bastard do to him?' She thought with fear. She watched as he sat up straight and ran his fingers through his silver blonde hair as if he were debating on how to answer that question. He finally stopped and looked at her and she noted that his cheeks were flushed as if from embarrassment, and that his hair looked very disheveled now that his fingers had left their previous journey through his hair. "Im not so sure if you want to know the answer that question",he finally said after a few minutes of silence. The anger and fiery fury that Hermione was feeling was radiating off of her so much,that it was extremely tangible in the air. Before Draco could blink, she had pounced towards his side of the bed and wrapped her hands around his neck making him land hard on his back on the bed.
Now Hermione hardly ever showed signs of being violent while in school,except if you extremely pissed her off. This was one of those times. The fact that Draco didnt give her a straight answer,mingled with the frustration of finding him in the bed with her instead of seeing Ron there. Draco was half-angry and half-impressed that little Miss knw-it-all had enough courage to take him on like that. Hermione meanwhile was only thinking of one thing: To find Ron and this little bastard knows where to find him. "If you did something to him, I swear to Merlin that I will make you suffer so much pain that it will make the Cruciatus Curse look like a walk in the park." she bellowed to him,inches from his face. He stopped struggling with her and instead placed both of his strong hands on her waist and turned the tables on her. He was now on top of her,holding her two hands over her head with his own. Amazingly enough,their sheets were still covering them. Hermione felt fear and sadness becoming now mixed with the already confusing emotions that were already inside of her. " I didnt do anything to your precious Weasel, and by the way you shouldnt even be concerned with him,or have you forgotten already that youre married." He sneered whispering into her right ear. "I will never acknowledge that fact, Id rather burn in hell than ever spend one night with you." she whispered with hatred in her already cold voice.
Draco looked up at her in an almost disbelieving way. "You havent figured it out yet?" he asked with both disbelief and uncertainess in his voice and manner. He shifted uncomfortably on top of her. Hermione started to get frightened. The fear was slowly becoming apparent on her face, but she didnt care. She wanted to get some answers. " Dont bullshit with me. What are you talking about?". "Language, Mrs. Malfoy." he responded. She winced heavily at the sound of being called Mrs. Malfoy. Draco of course saw this but decided to ignore it. "As you so gracefully put it, Im not bullshitting with you. Im simply expressing my confusion that a witch with the brain like yours, has not figured it out." Hermiones anger was slowly coming back as it replaced her fear. "Stop playing games. I want to know where Ron is." Draco simply stared at her. She was losing her patience. "I SAID WHERE IS RON?" she bellowed once again.
He released her left hand and susbstitued it with his right hand,so that in his right hand he had both of her hands. He used his now free left hand to cover her mouth. "Shh..Youll wake the whole house." But Hermione didnt give a damn if she woke up the entire block. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. In one swift, spurious act of uncontrollable anger, she bit into the hand that was now over her mouth. Draco let out a very angry yell. He let go of her and jumped off of her in a very fast manner. He was standing up now over her, gripping his left hand with his right, and a look of pain on his face. She rolled herself off of the opposite side of the bed where Draco was, and making sure that the covers were still fastened around her body tightly, she quickly looked around the room for anything that could be used as a weapon, while Draco was distracted. She quickly spotted a butter knife that the elves must have left behind on the floor next to the armchair that was a few feet away from the bed. She ran there as if for dear life. She clutched it in time, as Draco had obviously seen what she had spotted and had run that way towards the knife as well.
Her right hand was grasping on to the knife, while her left was clutching her sheets, that now looked like a tube-top toga on her. Her curls bounced slightly as she walked slowly towards him. His hands were now up in the air, a look of anger and fear were now evident upon his pale face, as he backed away from the knife-bearing Hermione.
"Listen to me,and listen to me closely unless you want me to castrate you where you stand." she said, her face not giving any hint of hesitation. Hermione stopped walking and so did Draco. "Wheres Ron? What did you do to him? and you better give me a straight answer." she added threatingly brandishing the kinife once more. Draco looked at her, no more fear and surprise on his face. In fact he looked almost intrigued at what Hermione was doing. He narrowed his eyes sharply. He looked as if he wasnt going to answer her, but just as Hermione was going to yell at him again he spoke, his voice never quavering as he spoke.
"Ron was never here." he said. He caught a glimpse of her face, as he let her digest these words. Her face seemed beyond shock, but her words were still very firm. "What are you talking about?" He looked at her again, than looked at the floor. "I mean that Ron was never here with you. It was sort of like a image of him that was inside of your mind. It was never him." Hermione took a step back. She swallowed hard. ' No hes lieing. O God, let him be lieing.' was all she thought as she looked back at him. His face was up now, but his eyes were still focused on the floor, as if determind not to look at her in the eyes. He pressed forward without even being asked. "What Im saying is the truth. Rons dead, it wasnt his ghost or an apparition of him. It was an image of him that..." He stopped here and looked at her straight in the eye. While still looking at her, he spoke again this time very awkwardly." It was an image of him that I adopted for last night only." Hermione dropped the butter knife in horror.
She was breathing fast again and she could hear herself breathing. Her mouth was open and her eyes were backed up with tears. She was walking backward again and she seemed as if every step she took was causing her pain. "No...You...wouldnt...you couldnt...thats not possible." she said. Draco stayed where he was. He just looked at her with a blank expression etched onto his face. She fell to the floor, and struggled with her breathing. She never stopped looking at him. "Answer me..." she whispered. He didnt respond. "ANSWER ME!" she screeched. He didnt even move. Hermiones head was buzzing, and her face looked absolutley distraught. She heard a weird ringing in her ears, and her head was pounding. She kneaded her forehead with her knuckles and swiped away her tears. Looking down at the floor, she said evilly whispering, "Rapist", knowing that Draco had heard her.
This was a step too far. Draco glided towards her and grapped her by the shoulders. He was now on his knees, and he had a clear view of her tear marks all over her cheeks. "What did you call me?" he whispered angrily. She didnt shake under his grip. She answered just as evilly back, more tears spilling forth. "You heard me, Youre a rapist. Youre sick...I knew you were always evil but I never realized you were capable of doing something...soo...low. What, did you think that the experience would be more fun for you if you toyed with me further? You and youre father are exactly the same. The same scum...Is it a family tradition? Raping youre new wife on the night of their wedding? Especially if the marriage was forced." His face and his eyes were raging with fury. He gripped onto her shoulders strongly and threw her back to the floor with so much force that she hit her head, along with her body, against the hard wood.
There were fingernail marks in her shoulders, and her already throbbing head burst with new pain as it hit the floor. But she wasnt through with him yet. She gathered up as much strength she had and lifted herself up to her feet. She strided towards him, and slapped him, Hard. So hard in fact that there was a perfect imitation of her hand on the right side of his face, looking raw red. She expected him to hit her back, and she suspected him to do so when she saw his blazing angry eyes. Instead he walked past her, bent to the floor and picked up his clothes as well as the butter knife. He went towards the door. Looking back he said, "The elves will be along shortly with your breakfast. If you cause them any trouble Ill be back. Youre to stay in here till someone sends for you. Usually, you would have been able to wander the grounds, but in youre present condition I dont think thats best." Without another backwards glance he walked out and shut the door behind him.
Hermione, immediatley as he left, fell once again to the floor. She was sprawled, and her hair looked a real mess. Tears were now issuing out in waves and her moans of pain could be clearly heard throughout the entire manor.
ABOUT MID-DAY;BEGINNING OF THE AFTERNOON
The elves had come to visit her twice. Once to bring her the breakfast that she didnt even touch, and the second to bring her lunch. The elves also,out of pity or either they were ordered to, had picked out some clothes for her and gave her a bath. While she was in the bath, Hermione had scrubbed every inch of her body, until it looked very pink. She especially scrubbed very hard in the places where Rons hands had been touching her last night...Where Dracos hands had been...Even though she was determined not to eat anything, the elves had forced her to eat a bit of the lasagna that had been prepared for her. When the elves had finally left her alone, full of delicious food, fully clothed, and her hair looking better than it did just a few hours ago, Hermione closed all of the blinds in the room and walked towards the glowing fire that was now smoldering in the fireplace. She had asked the elves to start one for her, even though it was the middle of the day.The blinds made the entire room pitch black.
She was sitting on her knees her hands folded neatly on top of her lap and plain black skirt. Her long-sleeved white button up blouse matching perfectly. All she was doing was staring into the red,glowing fire. Thats all she had been doing,since the elves had left. 'How could this be happening to me?' she seemed to repeat over and over again in her head. ' That little bastard. He knew what he was doing to me and he didnt even care ' she thought as tears started to well up inside of her. "Crying..." she spoke into the seemingly deserted room, " Thats all Ive been doing since I got here. Crying..." She wiped away her tears on her sleeve.
" Even though there alot of things that were not youre fault or doing, during youre short stay here, that is youre fault. You can simply just stop and control youre emotions." Draco Malfoy had been hiding in the shadows, for quite some time, just looking at Hermione. His sudden arrival scared Hermione slightly,but she regained herself entirely as he walked over to her. "And become as cold as you? Without a heart, and not caring about other peoples feelings? Never!" she retorted back, whirling around, staring at him. The tears that were in her eyes,were glistening,due to the firelight. "Unlike contrary belief, I do have a heart. And I also know this may come as a real shocker as well, but I also care about other peoples feelings, and at this present moment I care about youres. Thats why I am here to tell you the whole truth about last night."
Hermione remained sitting there, just staring at him. She wasnt going to say anything but curiousity got the best of her," What are you on about? Im sure I know everything I need to know," she said, straightneing herself and standing up,"Unless there was another form of deception that you want to fess up to, What is it?" She said while crossing her arms. Draco walked towards her and bent down on his own knees on the rug, in front of the fireplace. He motioned for her to join him, but she remained standing.He sighed and began:
DRACOS FLASHBACK
He was over her, and she was on top of the bed. He was about to lay on the bed on top of her, but then the bathroom door opened. He looked at it, and knew that it was the signal. He walked over to the door, warned Hermione not to move and walked inside. His bathroom was exactly like Hermiones in the guest room but hers was white-tiled and his was black-tiled. In the center of the bathroom, right before the pool, was his father and next to him was Lord Voldemort himself.
As soon as he saw Voldemort, he bowed deeply. "Master..." was all he said as he straightened out. Voldemort smiled evilly at Draco as, he walked towards him. "Draco...Im happy to say that so far you have not failed me,during this entire process you have behaved yourself most spectacurlary." Voldemort sneered at him,and continued, his eyes all aglow in terrible red with excitement, "But tonight, we will see how far youre loyalness will go. Tonight is the night that the prophecy will be fufilled. Lucious," he said turning to Lucious Malfoy and he bowed automatically," Yes Master" he said, still bowed. Voldemort looked down at him.
"Do you have the vileful of potion that I asked you to make?" he asked him. Lucious straightened up, nodded, and then took something out from the depths of his lack robes. It was indeed a vile, with a blood-red substance inside it. He gracefully handed it to Voldemort. "Ahhhh Yesssssss..Finally:" he looked at Draco,holding up the vile so that Draco could see the contents clearly. "Finally, youre time has come. If you drink this potion you will take on the appearance of the person that the Mudblood vessel mostly wants to see. I know who that person is,and as soon as you take this potion I will possess you, and the process will be complete, do you understand?" He asked with a cold, serious expression on his face.
Draco just stared at the vile, comprehension slowly dawning on him. But there was still something bothering him "Master, why do I have to transform into someone she wants? What would be accomplised by that? Wouldnt it be better if we just do it while in my own body,as to not confuse her and make her even more angry when she realizes the truth?" he asked hesitantly not wanting to sound rude. Voldemort looked at him and a terrible smile creeped onto his snake-like face."Well, well if I didnt know any better, Id say you have a soft spot for her" Draco shook silently in embarrassed nervousness. Voldemort continued, "I just want to get this over with and I quite frankly do not want a struggle. " His eyes gleamed evilly,"But you must admit how fun it will be to see the look on her face when she sees us." He laughed, and it was full of loud,merciless evil.
"I must also clear something else to you." he said, after he stopped laughing. "You will not be transformed, it will be a type of image of the person she wants to see. Very complicated dark magic, but the plan will succeed nevertheless. Also, when I possess you, you will not be in control of your body. I will control everything you say and do. Yes, you will remeber the experience,but you cannot control anything about it. When first light hits, I will be gone from youre body."
Draco swallowed hard, understanding everything. Voldemort handed him the vile. Lucious and Voldemort were watching him intently,waiting for him to either decline or accept by drinking the red substance. ' No turning back now' he thought as he drank the potion. He felt like his throat was on fire, and then his entire body followed. He opened his eyes just in time to see Lord Voldemort shrivel before him,and become dark swirls of cloud, with two red beams on top that were clearly his eyes. He saw Lord Voldemort scream,then realized that he was screaming as well as Lord Voldemort plunged inside,through his mouth.
END FLASHBACK
"I remember everything he did to you...What I did to you...It was as if I was watching it from a third persons point of view,but inside myself. It was the strangest thing I ever felt." Draco stopped talking, and realized that he was shaking and that he was staring at the floor. He looked up in the direction of the fireplace,and Hermione was blocking it. She was kneeling in front of him, in the same style he was,and she was looking straight at him.
"So...he possessed you." she said soft but firmly. He looked at her,and answered,"Yes, Im not lieing" he hastily added. Hermione stared at him hard and then spoke," I know...I can tell..but there is somehting I dont understand." she said breaking the eye contact and looking at her own clammy hands. "What?" he said impatiently.
She looked back up at him,and said sincerely,"In the bathroom when Voldemort told you what he was going to do...When you asked him why it was neccessary to ...make yourself in the image of...R-Ron...were you asking that because you really wanted to know,or...because you cared about how I felt?" she said.
Draco could tell that it took alot of courage for her to ask him this, and the truth was he didnt want to admit it, but he was in fact scared of this whole ordeal. Of him having to be out of control of his body...his responsibility to the Dark Lord...him having to spend a night with Hermione...and the thing that they were only 17 and they were actually married,actually scared him alot but he wouldnt let anybody know that. To add injury to insult, he also did care about what Hermione and what her feelings might be towards all of this.
He tried to find a way to lie to her, but he couldnt. The words tumbled out of his mouth so fast, that he didnt even realize he said it, until they had already escaped his mouth. "Yeah..I mean.. I guess I do care about how you feel" Hermione looked at him and she realized that this was probably the only time he had ever been both sincere and nice to her.
"Draco..thank you" she said. Draco looked at her and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "For what?" Hermione looked at him and said all in one breath," For at least doing the right thing in questioning why you had to do this,and actually caring about how I feel." She looked at him,and she felt awkward and slightly embarrassed. She didnt know why but she felt weird in saying this to the guy who had been her enemy since her first year at Hogwarts. "Your welcome." he said, his awkwardness very evident. They both stayed like that for awhile,thinking to themselves about why they were acting like this towards each other.
A/N:TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK BY REVIEWING PLEASE!