Author's Notes: Sorry about the delay! I'm at home now but my computer has this horrible virus and I can't use the net. Sniff! Its still not fixed but I managed to update from a friend's house and before the 26th, as previously planned!

Have you all heard? Harry Potter book 6 out in July 2005! I can't wait! Hope things get a bit more PG-13 this time, don't you agree? There will definitely be some Hermione/Ron action going on...

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers for last chapter! 88 reviews, wow! How could I ever do it without you! So personal thank you's cannot be missed!

Jonadark: Hey glad you like the fic! I'm glad you picked up on the human sacrifice because its important. Draco did need to kill somoene to become a Death-Eater and he will shortly be talking about it.

AngelSerpent91: Thanks for your review again. And yes Draco has been severely beaten but not by Blaise. Remember the Slytherins still fear Draco, even Blaise... read on and find out! Enjoy!

Winter-willow: Wow, one of the longest reviews I've had so far! Thank you I appreciate your thoughts and comments sooo much! To answer your question, you're right. Hermione's mum is born from a Squib and Muggle thus none magical but that so Squib comes from the Serpent family line and is Abigail's father's uncle. Thus Hermione's mum and Abigail's dad are cousins though they live in completely different worlds and thats how you get a Muggle-born Hermione and Pureblood Abigail.

Hope that made sense, sorry for the delay!

Lachupaca: Another long review! Ust what the doctor ordered, thank you! Sorry for grammar mistakes but english isn't my first language! I've actually been going re-editing and re-writing the first chapters because I thought they were pretty bad! Lol, never knew I could make people angsty with my fic, hope you enjoy the chapter!

MerndaSaysDownWithWormtail: And you're right, I hate wormtail! Lol, thanks for the review and I have to admit that the 'boy-who-just-wouldn't-die' didn't come from me but I found it so hilariously funny that I just HAD to use it. Glad you love it!

Starlight-Heart: Hey I started reading 'Leather and Libraries' and I liked it. I'll review when I finish! I loved your review; glad you like all the interaction between Abigail and Harry! And do not worry, Hermione/Draco stuff coming supersoon (actually next chapter); plus the rating goes up! I just read the fifth HP book again and the last bit with Bellatrix suddenly gave me the idea of Abigail warning her about Harry! Seriously its time he revenged Sirius death don't you think? Enjoy...

Roguish Muse: Hehe, like I said, R-rating soon... And Christmas Ball as well and though I can picture all the characters in their ball clothes, its so hard to describe them through words. Hope you like this chappie, it has some Draco/Hermione interaction.

Dark Rose: Glad you like Abigail, because OCs can really get to me too. You can feel it really quickly when author's include themselves in the story though I've read some real good ones too. Hope to hear from you again!

And now to Draco's injuries and naked torso :)

..~**~..

Chapter 22

Draco slowly took off his black shirt, turning his head to look at the state of his back through the mirror. He had locked himself inside the bathroom and quickly needed to get rid of the cuts and bruises, which covered his body, before Hermione woke up.

The only problem was the limping, he couldn't help it and no spell could conceal it. He was sure there was a spell, somewhere, but he couldn't remember it, and right now he didn't care enough to find it. He looked down at the blood, which covered his clothes again. The ritual had continued as planned but this time a whole Muggle family had been killed to compensate for a Death Eater's loss.

When Voldemort had discovered that Avery had been killed, Draco would never forget how those horrifying beady red eyes had abruptly turned to him.

"This is all your fault!" he had hissed.

And Voldemort, never the sort of man to do his dirty work, had ordered Lucius Malfoy to torture his son. Draco hadn't protested, or even cried in pain, when the Cruciatus curse was repeatedly used on him, or when the whip had ripped open the skin on his back. Those sort of things had happened before. He was prepared for them.

He was used to the pain and the black memories, which filled his mind each time. They haunted him at night during his sleep, which was the only time when they could overtake his mind. But it was the blood he would never get used to, nor the satisfaction on his father's face. It angered him more than anything else.

"Bastard," Draco muttered angrily, punching the mirror before him and effectively shattering it into millions of shards.

Alarmed by the noise, a knock was heard on the bathroom door.

"Go away, Granger!" he growled and hearing nothing in return, he turned back to face the shattered mirror until he suddenly heard the door unlock.

Before Malfoy could cover himself, Granger walked in and gasped loudly at the sight of him.

"Get out!" he told her, turning his back to her. "This isn't any of your business, I told you not to come in here! "

Whatever was happening with Granger, he had made the right decision by putting a stop to it. If Voldemort or any one else ever found out what little had happened between them, then they would both die. And now that Blaise was initiated, he had to be even more careful not to reveal anything.

"It wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone there, so it damn well is!" she retorted, pulling out her wand.

"Evanesco!" she said, pointing at the mess on the floor, which instantly disappeared.

Draco looked back at her surprised as she started healing his wounds.

"He expected Abigail to come after her friend," he said quietly after a moment as he observed her healing his wounds.

"Oh, Draco," she spoke up, worry in her voice as she looked at the state of his back. "Why do you let him do this to you?"

He seized her hand, intending to make her stop, but instead it caused her to step even closer to him.

"Granger, if I could change I would… take back that stupid vow I would… but I can't!"

Suddenly all his resolutions seem to fly away as her sorrowful eyes captivated his attention and he felt himself irresistibly attracted to her. Still holding on to her firmly, he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. He didn't expect her to kiss him back, nor did he intend her to, because somehow this was his way of simply saying 'thank you'.

Her chocolate eyes flickered with surprise and Draco realised his error.

He was a Death Eater with a job to do and, unless he wanted to die, he needed to do it quick.

"You'd better leave," he told her in his usual cold voice.

Unfortunately, Hermione didn't budge. "No, you still need –"

But her voice made him even more determined. "Don't you understand English?" he shouted at her. "Beat it!"

She left hurriedly, scared of his sudden reaction, and as Draco watched her go a mixture of emotions rushed through his soul.

..~**~..

"Serpent!"

He had finally managed to find her, near the lake, as usual. She was sitting by herself on the rocks again, doing her homework. She turned around surprised and scowled as she recognised him.

"Hello, Malfoy!" she greeted him coldly. "Concealed your bruises did you? You still have to work on that limping though."

He smirked, ignoring her attempts to aggravate him. "You probably know why I'm here."

Her face fell, as she understood his meaning. Voldemort hadn't lost any time. After the meeting he had instantly ordered Draco to find Abigail and force her to regain her neutrality by helping his cause.

"Fine," she said indifferently. "What is it you want?" Idly, she wondered if she would have anticipated Draco's demands if Snape had not shown her the true nature of her foolishness.

"You should teach me some of your family magic," he answered maliciously, feeling his power over her. "For instance, how did you protect yourself from the Unforgivable curses?"

"That is for you to discover," Abigail answered without hesitation. "Anyone can protect himself from those curses. We all have a family ancestor who when summoned creates a protective shield. Each family has a different one and I don't happen to know yours."

She then looked up at him from her homework and grinned.

Not letting himself get disappointed, Draco continued. "Then teach me one of your family spells."

Thinking upon it for a moment, Abigail pulled out her wand and pointed it at her book.

"Stonificus!"

Her book suddenly turned grey. It was no longer made of paper, but hard rock stone.

"Very impressive," he said sarcastically, "but anyone can do that."

"Yes, but I also know how to transform objects into wood, metal, stone or liquify them."

Draco looked at her unimpressed. "Sure, Hogwarts doesn't teach us that, but you must know something better."

His words seemed to anger her considerably. "You want me to teach you how to kill people?" she shouted back at him.

"No, but you must have more powerful spells than that!" he replied calmly, casting her a stony glare. "In case you haven't noticed, I brought your mother to St Mungo's, you threatened the Dark Lord, you killed one of his-"

But before he could finish, Abigail suddenly turned her wand at him. "Boisum clothes!"

He watched unamused as the cloth of his school uniform and black cloak suddenly changed into ebony wood.

..~**~..

Draco spent the rest of the afternoon arguing with Abigail over which curses were useful to learn or not. He finally decided that if he was ever going to learn more from her then he'd have to be patient. The Serpent heir wouldn't reveal her darkest spells just yet and so he half-listened, extremely bored as she taught him simple and insignificant spells.

"I think I've had enough for today," he said eventually, pocketing his wand and standing up from the rock he was sitting on. "I'll be seeing you same time, same place tomorrow."

As he expected, she argued back. "And who says I'm free tomorrow? I have tons of homework to catch up on as I was in hospital and –"

But Draco hardly listened. "And you'll be coming with me to the Christmas Ball, so dress accordingly."

He walked past her, meaning to leave, but looked down amused as her eyes opened up wide.

"Excuse me? I have no intention of going to that stupid ball and even less of going with you!" she exclaimed, standing up herself.

"Everyone has to go on Dumbledore's orders and I'm not taking Pansy again," he explained walking back to the castle not bothering to face her.

"I don't care if you don't want to go with Parkinslut!" Abigail shouted back angrily, trampling after him. "I won't go with you –"

"Too bad, you still are," he added with a smirk and suddenly turned around to face her. "You and I can still be together you know."

"Are you kidding me? I fucking hate you!" she shouted back at him angrily, stopping abruptly. She was furious and seemed to lose track of what she was saying. Draco, suddenly realising she was causing a scene again in front of other students, pulled her aside.

"I can't understand how you could ever think that I would go with you;" she continued not bothering to keep her voice down, "you arrogant stuck up asshole! Besides, even if I went to the ball, I'd rather go with Ha -"

But she stopped short, catching herself before her tongue slipped.

However, Draco realised her mistake and felt his blood boil in his veins. He gripped her wrist even harder and turned around to face her, menacingly.

"With Potter."

His voice was chilling to the bone.

"Is that what you were going to say?" His silver eyes watched her like a hawk as she tried to back away from him and lowered her gaze to the ground.

"Did you really think that us Slytherins would let you go to the Ball with him?" he continued dangerously. "I might have let you see him before but from now on I don't ever want to see you near him again -"

"You're such a hypocrite!" Abigail suddenly cut in. "I'm sure you're dying to go with Granger –"

"There's nothing going on between us," he answered calmly, letting go of her wrist. He knew perfectly well that if he lost his temper now, Abigail would see right through his lies.

She looked straight into his eyes, searching for the truth, but quickly gave up and walked away towards the castle doors. Draco Malfoy's soul was unfathomable, even to him.

..~**~..

Draco found the Slytherin common room empty that night and slipped into the leather couch, sighing heavily with fatigue. Reaching under a nearby cupboard, he found a half-empty bottle of firewhiskey and proceeded to down it.

"How did it go?" a voice asked him firmly.

"It'll take some time before she tells me what we want," Draco answered back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Blaise sat down opposite him. "We don't have much time."

Draco looked at his long-time friend and noticed how tired he seemed. He certainly hadn't slept either since his initiation.

"There's a problem though," Draco said calmly, leaning back in his chair. Blaise turned his head to look at him, concerned. His life was at risk in this too.

"She's befriending the Gryffindors. She's hardly a Slytherin anymore," Draco continued, finding a couple of Butterbeers left in the cupboard.

He watched as his friend's blue eyes turned darker at his words.

"I want her back," the dark-haired Death Eater admitted to him, taking the Butterbeer Draco handed him.

Draco smirked in return. "I know. We'll find a way."

As he spoke, the Slytherin common room door suddenly swung open and Pansy walked in, winking at Blaise as she passed them by and purposely avoiding Draco. He preferred not to respond anymore when she flirted with him.

Blaise, turning back to face Draco, smirked as well.

"Catch you later!" he sneered as she followed Pansy up to the boys' dormitories.

..~**~..

Hihi, this story definitely needs R-rating and the rating will finally go up next chapter!

Now's the time to review guys, coz the more I get, the quicker I'll update!

In the next chapter, Hermione and Draco finally get it even….